Protector
by OLRtvaddict
Summary: What if Oliver Queen is assigned to protect the head of the Bratva's mafia daughter? Should be an easy task for a Bratva captain, right? Felicity turns out to be more than he bargained for, and they soon see that they hate each other. Rated T for language...subject to change later.
1. Chapter 1

Trying something a little different, a Bratva fic. We'll see how this goes; hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

*usual disclaimers apply*

* * *

><p>Anatoly Knyazev sat in his office as he nursed a glass of bourbon. Being the leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva was not an easy task. Bratva, the most powerful crime organization in the Russia mafia. This life certainly came with lots of rewards and risks...maybe the risks outweighed the rewards. Bratva was one of the most feared mafia organizations. They live by a code of loyalty and respect, something a lot of other organizations didn't like or feel as strongly about. Now there was a potential war coming, and he knew threats on his life and his family would be made. What was weighing heavily on his mind now was how could he protect his daughter Felicity. Felicity and his sister Raisa were the only intermediate family he had left; his wife had lost her battle to cancer 11 years ago. Raisa moved in shortly after to help raise Felicity, knowing she would need a motherly figure. Now at the age of 21, she was back in Russia to stay after finishing college. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep her locked away or with him at all times, so he decided the best option would be to get a bodyguard. He had to choose someone, who had proven to be loyal and, unafraid and dedicated. He picked up the phone, he knew just the person to call. Oliver Queen.<p>

_"Dad what's going on," Felicity asked him. Anatoly had come into her room and turned her television off. He had a worried look on his face as he sat on the edge of her bed._

_"You know there is some tension going on with us and the Triad right now," he told her. Anatoly had chosen not to raise Felicity in the dark. He didn't want her to be one of those kids who were kept clueless about the family business, and were then blindsided when something happened. She knew what Bratva was and just who her father was; there were no secrets between them._

_"Yes I know. Are you okay?" She scooted down to the edge of the bed beside him._

_Anatoly smiled at her instant concern for him. "Yes I'm fine. My main thing now is making sure you are safe."_

_Felicity closed her eyes. "Please don't say you're about to send me away. I've only been back a short while." She hadn't been back from school not even two months. She was looking forward to spending time with her father. After being in college for four years, the only time they really had together were holidays and that's not that much time at all._

_He took her hand in his, "No I'm not, but I am getting you your own personal protection."_

_"A babysitter?" She retorted. "This place is crawling with security, I'm sure I don't need my own personal security."_

_"No Felicity, a bodyguard." He said firmly, the seriousness was evident in his voice. "This is for when you're not in the house. I want to ensure that you are safe no matter where you are at."_

_Felicity sighed and sat back. "Who is it?"_

_"His name is Oliver Queen."_

_"And he is?" Felicity asked.  
><em>

_"Someone I can trust with my life, so I know I can trust him with yours. He's coming over today, and I'll introduce you to him."_

_Felicity nodded._

_"Felicity I don't want you giving him a hard time. He's a very serious young man, and he takes his job just as serious."_

_"Dad, I'm not a child. I'm an adult and I know how to act like one," she said._

_"You may be 21, but I can still picture you running through the hall in pigtails and little plaid dresses," Anatoly smiled as the memories flashed through his mind._

_Felicity laughed and ran her hands through her hair, putting it up in a messy bun. "Yeah no more pigtails and definitely no more of those ugly dresses."_

_Anatoly's laughed before his tone turned serious again. "No matter where you go, I want Oliver with you at all times. You aren't to leave his sight."_

_"Dad..."_

_Anatoly held up his hand cutting her off. "I'm serious Felicity. You are to go nowhere without him."_

_"So he goes to the restroom with me too?" She mumbled under her breath._

_Anatoly sighed and rubbed the creases that had formed in his forehead._

_"Okay I'm sorry," she apologized. "I understand what's going and how serious this is. Just promise me one thing."_

_"What's that?"_

_"That you have adequate protection also. I mean it dad," her voice was laced with worry. She was already without one parent, she didn't want...no she couldn't lose her father either._

_"I assure you Felicity, I will be protected. Nothing will happen to me," he promised her. He brought her forehead down to a kiss._

_"Okay. Just tell me when I need to come meet this mysterious Oliver Queen," she said._

_"I'll call you down when he gets here," Robert said before leaving out._

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><p>Oliver, sat in his den cleaning his gun before he went to pay a visit to Anatoly. He had gotten a call from Anatoly saying that he needed a favor. Cleaning his guns always brought a sense of calmness to and it gave him time to reflect. This particular day, he was reflecting on his life up until this point.<p>

He had always been a quiet man. That was a trait that had been with him his whole life; probably because his life was not the life of an ordinary child. He was raised by his father Robert. His mother, Moira died shortly after he was born. His father was the co-owner of a car shop with his closest friend John Diggle, and after his wife's death, he raised Oliver the best he could, while also throwing himself into his work. Oliver wouldn't know until he got older that the car shop was a cover for something much bigger. Robert died of a heart attack when Oliver was 16. After Robert's death, Diggle took Oliver in. Robert and John had grown up together and John saw Oliver as a son. John wanted to keep Oliver away from the Bratva life until he was at least out of high school, but after Oliver had many delinquent outbursts and reckless behavior, John knew it was time for him to have some kind of structure. So at the young age of 16, John sat Oliver down and gave him two choices.

_"Oliver, I love you like my own son. I know it's been tough for you. You've been through a lot in your life to be so young, so you have every right to be angry and to question why you were given a life filled with trials and tribulations. There are two decisions you can make. You can either wallow in self pity or you can pick yourself up. Turn this anger and emotions and use them as fuel to better your life. Now which decision or you going to make?"  
><em>

_"I want to learn the business. I know my dad's car shop was just a front and I know what the two of you really did and what you still do. I want..no, I need you to teach me. Teach me the Bratva way."_

_Diggle studied Oliver's face. He saw no hint of nervousness in his eyes. The youthfulness was gone and his eyes were hardened and laced with determination. John knew it was either properly teach him or refuse. If he refused, Oliver was just going to continue on the dangerous path he was going down and try to find his own way. John had promised Robert he would take care of Oliver and that is what he intended to do.  
><em>

_"Okay," John nodded. "Your father always talked about waiting until you showed you were ready before we put you into this life. I think this is as good of a time as any. I just wish your father was here to do it, but I will take on that role and do the best I can. Now we're going to see Anatoly Knyazev."_

_Oliver had met Anatoly before; he remembered seeing him at his father's funeral, when he gave him words of encouragement._

_"Your father, who I considered a great friend, was a very good and loyal man. I've watched you grow into a strong young man from afar. You have my deepest sympathies and if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to call me. I know John will take good care of you, but I just want you to know I'm here for you also...in any way you need me to be."_

_The day John took Oliver to Anatoly and told him that it was time, was the day Oliver fully realized what that last sentence Anatoly had spoken to him at the funeral fully meant.  
><em>

On that day, Oliver choose the Bratva life, and from that moment on nothing was the same...Oliver's transformation started. He was put on a strict schedule and regimen. He was thrust into learning the ins and outs of the business. He trained and quickly climbed the ranks as he showed exceptional skill in defense and weapon training. He became a serious force and known throughout Russia. Now at the age of 28, he was a Bratva Captain.

* * *

><p>"Oliver!" Anatoly exclaimed as Oliver walked through the door to his study. Anatoly walked up to Oliver and gave him a hug. He patted him on the back as he coaxed him to take a seat.<p>

"What's so important? Do I need to go take care of something for," Oliver asked as he sat down.

"Not in the way you're thinking. This is something totally different. Oliver, you know I trust you with my life," Anatoly said as he reached Oliver a drink.

"Yes sir," Oliver said after he took a swig of the bourbon.

"You know this business with the Triad is heating up, and I have to take precautions."

Oliver nodded as he sat back to listen to Anatoly, trying to see where he was going with this conversation.

"I need to make sure my family is safe, and by family I mean Felicity."

"Felicity, is your daughter right?" Oliver looked for confirmation.

"Yes," Anatoly nodded.

"I want you to be her bodyguard. You know I only trust a select few, and by few, I mean you and John. I couldn't ask John to do it, he has a family now. I know with you being a Captain and all, that the role of a bodyguard may be beneath you, but..."

Oliver shook his head and quickly cut Anatoly off. "I'll do it. You don't even have to ask. You always say I saved your life, but I would say you saved mines by taking me in. You and John, I owe the both of you so much, so yes I'll do it."

"Thank you Oliver. I promise she won't be a handful, and if any problems come, don't hesitate to call me."

Anatoly took out his phone and dialed a number. "Come to my office for a moment."

He turned to Oliver after he hung up. "She'll be down in a minute."

Oliver nodded once again. He leaned back in the chair and finished his drink as he waited on the girl whose life was now in his hands to come to the door.

After a moment the door creaked open, and a soft voice called out. "I'm here."

"Come on in," he becked for her.

Oliver turned to the door as a small petite frame made it's way in the room. Oliver had only seen pictures of Felicity; he'd never had the chance of meeting her. She was dressed in black pants, with a red blazer over a white shirt, her blonde curls were gathered on the top of her head in a messy bun. Her wide blue eyes were on display. She had a fresh aura about herself.

Felicity walked over and stood by Anatoly, and then turned looking Oliver up and down. She could see that her father wasn't lying about Oliver being serious. Everything about him screamed serious. His broad shoulders and stern face screamed that he wasn't someone to mess with. He had piercing blue eyes, that looked like they had seen a lot over his lifetime; she didn't think he could be that old...maybe late 20s. She wondered exactly what he did, and why her father was so trusting of him.

"Felicity, this is your bodyguard Oliver Queen," Anatoly nodded towards him. "Oliver, this is Felicity."

Oliver stood up and straightened his jacket. Felicity smiled and held her hand out. "Nice to meet you Oliver Queen," she smiled.

Oliver reached out and shook her hand. "Likewise," he said.

Anatoly turned his attention back to Felicity, looking over her clothes. "Where are you dressed to go?"

"Uh, I have to go pick up my dress from the boutique. It won't take long, and it's not even that far," she started pleading her case.

"Felicity," he shook his head.

"Dad, don't make Oliver go. I mean he hasn't even officially started has he?" She looked at Oliver, who just stood silent with his hands behind his back.

"You can get it later," Anatoly said.

"I don't mind," Oliver spoke up. "I can take her."

"You sure," Anatoly asked him.

He nodded. "Yes, it's my job."

"I'll be ready in five minutes then. I just have to grab my shoes," Felicity said before slipping out the door.

* * *

><p>Felicity stood back by the door listening to Oliver and Anatoly.<p>

"Look Oliver, you don't know how much I appreciate you for this. You've saved my life before and here you are putting your life on the line for my daughter." She heard her father say.

"It's nothing. I'm happy to do it," Oliver told him. "She's important to you, so that makes her important to me."

Felicity wondered what exactly happened causing Oliver to save her father's life. Anatoly had never told her that story. It was obviously something major, or he wouldn't be putting her life in his hands so willingly."

She was pressing her ear closer to the door, when Raisa came up behind her.

"Why are you eavesdropping?"

"Oh God," Felicity jumped and grabbed her chest. "You scared me."

"I know. That was the plan," Raisa smirked. "So, why are you snooping?"

"What do you know about Oliver Queen," she asked Raisa as they walked to the kitchen. "He's my official bodyguard."

"He's a good man," Raisa answered.

"Okay everyone keeps saying that I need more information than that." she said.

"Just know you'll be safe," Raisa said ignoring Felicity's prying."

"Felicity narrowed her eyes at Raisa, who did the same to her. "I heard he's close with John, who I've talked with a lot. So, why haven't I met him before? My dad obviously holds him in very high regard."

"He stays to himself, doesn't like to draw attention to himself," Raisa shrugged. "That's what you need in this business."

Felicity glanced back as she saw Oliver and Anatoly walking out of the office still talking. "He seems..." Felicity paused when she saw Oliver looking at her. It seemed like his eyes could pierce through your soul. "Intriguing," she finished when he looked away.

Raisa laughed to herself as Felicity walked off. Felicity's feisty attitude and Oliver's serious demeanor would be a fun thing to watch.

* * *

><p>When Felicity got to the car Oliver was leaning on it waiting for her. He turned and opened the backdoor.<p>

Felicity looked from the door up to Oliver's unwavering eyes. "Why can't I sit in the front?" she asked.

"I feel more comfortable with you in the back," he said.

Felicity glanced over Oliver's emotionless face. He stared back at her with no emotion, or hint of changing his mind. "Uh okay then," she said slowly and slid in the seat.

"So," she said after riding in silence for awhile. "What's your story?"

He looked up at her in the rearview mirror, before looking back to the road, staying silent.

Felicity scrolled through her phone, before she decided to ask another question. "So how long have you known my father? I've never met you before, and I don't think I've seen you before either. Probably because I was away at school. My father speaks very highly of you though, which is very good because he doesn't do that will a lot of people."

More silence from Oliver as he glanced back and forth from her to the road. She was holding her gaze on him in the mirror as she talked.

Felicity crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. "Okay are you seriously just going to stay quiet and not talk to me? I mean we can at least have a little chit chat. Get to know more than each other's name."

Oliver looked into the rearview mirror once more, and for a moment Felicity thought he was about to finally say something. He reached up and hit the button to bring the partition up.

"Unbelieveabe! **мудак.**" Felicity huffed as the partition slowly rolled up. She threw herself back in the seat. Her dad had attached her to an obviously mute and brooding bodyguard. Serious was an understatement for this peculiar Oliver Queen.

* * *

><p><strong>мудак = asshole<br>**

**Don't hesitate to let me know what you think!**

**(If you get the email twice about this chapter please disregard it. For some reason it posts double sometimes when I update it to fix errors. Sorry!)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Is there anywhere else you need to go."

Felicity looked up from her phone and saw Oliver's eyes trained on her in the rear view mirror. She felt like throwing her shoe at the mirror. She ignored him and looked back down at her phone.

"Is there anywhere else you need to go," he repeated.

"Oh you're talking to me?" She looked around.

"Yes. I am," he answered. She could hear the hint of annoyance in his voice. She laughed a little on the inside because he actually answered her snarky question like an asshole.

"That's surprising," she mumbled. "I mean the only things you've said today were orders, and not even full words they were more like grunts." The entire time they were in the store, he might've said two words. He just stood back, groaning, hands crossed behind his back just looking; she was pretty sure he made the other customers uncomfortable. Felicity didn't even know how to describe his look. It was like there was nothing there. She was trying desperately to get a read on him; she knew this would take some major time.

"Are you going to answer the question or not?" He turned his body around to look right at her.

She was shocked he even turned around instead of just staring at her in the mirror like he had done the entire time.

"No, I don't have anywhere else to go," she finally answered.

He turned back around, and his phone started ringing.

"Oliver," he answered.

Felicity rolled her eyes. Of course he would answer his phone that way.

"Okay, I'll stop by," he said before hanging up. He reached over in the glove compartment and pulled out an envelope and slipped it inside his coat pocket.

"I need to stop somewhere, do you mind," he asked her.

"Nope," she said looking out the window. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't care if I did."

He turned back to the front, and hit the button to roll the partition up while she was talking. Gosh she hated him so much already.

Later they pulled up to the car shop. He parked the car and got out. He walked to her side and opened the door. She uncrossed her legs and got out.

"We shouldn't be too long," he told her as she followed him inside.

He walked over to the couch that was against the wall, signaling for the guy who was currently sitting there to move. The guy quickly got up and walked off. "Have a sit here, I just have to take care of something," he told her. She plopped down on the sofa because she was pretty sure he would've pulled her down on it if she hadn't.

"Hey tell John I'm here," he told a guy who was sitting behind a counter. The guy nodded and walked off. Felicity looked around the shop, it was her first time actually being inside it. She knew what the shop was really a cover for; and they hid it well. There were damaged cars parked around, greasy looking men working on them, machines blaring and buzzing. There were men everywhere, each working on different parts.

Felicity had her eyes trained on Oliver as he walked off and went up to a guy who was on the phone. The guy immediately ended the conversation and gave Oliver his full attention. Oliver leaned in and whispered in his ear, as the guy's smile immediately dropped from his face. He said no words and only nodded his head while listening to Oliver. Oliver's forehead was creased as he harshly whispered, and pointed his fingers as he talked. She wondered exactly what they were discussing. Oliver reached in his pocket and slipped him the package.

Felicity's view was cut off when a guy appeared in her face. He was standing before her wiping his arms off, as the white towel he used slowly turned black as the oil left his arms and hands.

"What's someone like you doing in here?" He asked.

Felicity stayed quiet. She was already annoyed because of Oliver and she hadn't exactly made plans to talk to a greasy mechanic today.

He flashed a sleazy smile at her and reached his hand towards her. "Come on sweet thing don't be like that."

"отвали, мудак, бля!," she scoffed, as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Now why would you let something as ugly as that come out of that pretty little mouth," he crouched down in front of her and asked.

Felicity rolled her eyes, and bounced her foot in annoyance.

Oliver's ears perked as he heard someone talking to Felicity. He turned and looked back in her direction. He walked off and quickly made his way towards Felicity and the guy.

"Hey," he clamped his hand down on his shoulder.

"Captain," the guy stuttered as he struggled to stand up. His eyes lowered in fear as Oliver glared at him. The guy obviously hadn't seen Oliver come in with Felicity or standing not even two feet behind him.

"What do I pay you for?" Oliver leaned in and asked.

"Stripping cars," the guy answered like a child.

Oliver nodded. "Exactly. So why are you over here?"

"I was just making small talk with..."

"You don't need to make small talk with her. She's not your concern; she's here with me." Oliver said through gritted teeth.

The guys hands flew up, "Sorry. I didn't..."

Felicity could see Oliver's hand tightening on the guy's shoulder as the guy winced in pain. "So if you want to keep your job, I suggest you get back to work before I count to three."

Oliver took his other hand and gripped the guys shirt and pulled him up, his feet dangled a little off the floor before Oliver shoved him back. "One..."

Once the guy regained his footing, he quickly turned on his heels and practically ran off. The other guys in the shop did their best to hold their laughter as the guy Oliver had just embarrassed quietly went back to work. Oliver looked at Felicity, as if he wanted to say something before his attention turned to the door that opened behind them.

Felicity looked back as she heard a deep voice talking, as she looked back and saw John walking out. She hadn't seen John in awhile; really, she hadn't seen much of anyone because of school. He was on the phone, so he just caught Oliver's eyes and nodded.

"Yeah I'll be home around eight tonight. Okay, love you." He ended the call and motioned for Oliver to follow him.

"Come on," he said as he reached for her. She moved out of his reach as she stood up. They started to walk towards the back, as Oliver had his hand on her back guiding her.

After they were in his office, John closed the door behind them. "Felicity," John smiled as he hugged her. "When Alex told me Oliver was here with some girl, I knew it had to be you."

"Of course, we're joined at the hip," she said, throwing a look at Oliver.

"It's been too long Felicity, you're all grown up now. How have you been?"

"I've been good. I'm back in town since I'm done with school."

John nodded as Felicity continued to talk. Oliver sat back and casually watched them as they did; John was obviously close with her. He wondered why he had never met Felicity before, or maybe he did and just didn't remember.

"I'm going to have to invite you over for dinner. We have to catch up and of course Lyla hasn't seen you in forever. I'll let your bodyguard here know the date, and we'll have you over," John said. He couldn't resist taking a shot at Oliver

"Should be fun," Felicity mumbled. "But go ahead and discuss your business." She could sense Oliver growing more and more impatient with each passing minute.

"So was it taken care of?" John turned and asked Oliver.

"Yes. Hal has the package, and it will be done tonight. You will be getting a call around ten tonight," Oliver answered.

John nodded. "Good. I told Anatoly about it briefly over the phone earlier. You can give him the final details when you take Felicity back home."

Oliver stood up signaling that it was time to go. He stood by the door as Felicity said goodbye to John and have him a hug.

"Don't forget, dinner at my place soon," John said as they left out.

When they got back in the car, they rode in silence again. Surprisingly Oliver didn't roll up the partition. Felicity could feel Oliver's eyes watching her in the mirror. He would glance at her and quickly look away when she noticed. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but of course he chose not to. They did the look and look away game for about ten minutes before Felicity grew tired of it. She pulled out her shades and slipped them on, turning her attention out the window.

* * *

><p>Felicity stretched and twisted around getting all the kinks and tightness out of her body. She stretched her arms up bending backwards slightly, before bending down to her toes. She double checked her shoes, before she secured the earbuds in her ear. She bounced on the balls of her feet as she checked her phone to pull up her workout playlist. The first song that showed up on her screen was Domino, by Jessie J; she slipped her phone back in her pocket and started running.<p>

She jogged and mouthed the lyrics as the wind and her momentum made her ponytail swing from side to side, brushing across her neck. The pace she was going at was steady and she would speed up as she hit the corners. She just happened to be turning a corner on the trail that led back to the back of the house when she ran into what seemed like a brick wall.

"What the hell?!" She gasped as her eyes popped open. Oliver's cold eyes stared back at her. Her body was now slammed into his hard chest, as she felt his arms wrap around her waist. The wind had practically been knocked out of her body, and he had scared the shit out of her. One of her earbuds fell out, and she was pretty sure her breast were on fire from that collision. His calloused fingers roughly met her bare skin as he secured her in his hands. Her hands shot up as an instant reaction against his chest, as she regained her footing. When she regained focused, she realized she was still holding on to him. Also, his body was hard...very hard and muscular.

"Sorry," Oliver apologized. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she stuttered; desperately trying to catch her breath. She slowly removed herself from his clutches and pulled the headphones from her ears. She brushed at her forehead, pushing the free strands back. She saw his eyes fall down to her chest, and she quickly zipped her jacket up to her neck.

"You shouldn't be back here by yourself," he told her. He was instantly back into bodyguard mode, after a split second.

"What? I always run back here," she said.

"Does your father know you're back here," he asked.

"Uh no, I don't really announce to the house that I'm going for a run. Plus I left before he woke up."

"Well considering what's going on now, it's too dangerous for you to be alone," he lectured.

"This place is practically crawling with security," she protested.

"Like I said, you're back here alone, and you never know who you can run into."

"Technically you ran into me." She placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one leg. They had a stare off for a moment, and Oliver showed that he wasn't giving in.

"What are you doing back here anyway? I thought you only came when I needed to go somewhere."

"I needed to see your father to go over some more things," he told her.

"Go over some things. You mean discuss me?"

"Mostly," he nodded.

"Well you go handle that, and if you don't excuse me, I need to finish my run," she said. She moved to walk past him, and he made a quick move that blocked her.

"No you're not," he said.

"Yes I am," she said. She moved again, and his hand shot up to grab her elbow.

"Let go of me," she said.

"No," he said. He tightened his grip on her elbow and practically dragged her in the house as she protested behind him.

They made it to the kitchen and he still had her in his clutches. Goodness, he was strong. Felicity swiped at his hand.

"How was your run," Raisa asked with a smirk when she looked up and saw them.

"Horrible," Felicity said snatching away from his grip. "Gosh, I'm in the house now, you can let me go."

"Hello Ms. Raisa," Oliver walked over and kissed her cheek.

"Anatoly is already in his office," she said. She looked at Felicity who still was frowning. She threw a laugh at her before she left out.

"I really dislike you," Felicity said after Raisa left out.

"Listen princess," he said. "We're about to go over the rules and regulations for when you're in my care."

"Princess?" Felicity repeated with a laugh. She bucked her eyes. "Did you just call me princess?"

"Rule number one, you do as I say. Rule number two, I go with you everywhere. Rule number there, when you want company over, I need to know ahead of time. Rule number four, and most important of all, listen to what I say. Got it?"

Felicity stared at Oliver with her mouth agape. Oliver looked over her and walked off, leaving her frozen in place. She watched him as he walked towards her father's office.

"Ugh," she said when she finally snapped out of her trance. Oliver fucking Queen had just pissed her off. He never wanted to hold an actual conversation and now he just wanted to dole out orders. The orders didn't bother her; she knew he was there for her protection and she was thankful for that. What angered her was his lack of apparent social skills. She was now going to think of a way to piss him off.

* * *

><p>Oliver had his head back with his eyes closed, as the girl on top of him desperately tried to get his full attention. The girl wildly started rocking her hips as if it would snap his mind out the trance he was in.<p>

His phone started buzzing against his nightstand. He sat up and pushed the girl off him, as she protested. He rubbed his eyes, looking at the phone. _Felicity _was spread across the screen.

"Hello," he groggily answered.

"Goodmorning Oliver," She cheerfully said.

"Yes?"

"Grumpy in the morning too, which is not surprising at all," she said. She held her laughter back as she heard him groan over the phone.

"It's not morning. What do you need?" He finally asked. He looked up at the clock on his wall, to double check and yeah it was only four in the morning.

"Well according to rule number three, no it's rule number two. You said you have to go everywhere with me. So I need to go for my morning run."

"You need to what?" He asked. She could sense the anger rising up in his voice, that he was desperately trying to hide. Oliver knew she was just being a conniving ass and getting back at him for making her listen to him the day before.

"I need to go for a run. You know staying in shape is important. It looks like you stay in shape, well I know you do, so you should understand me. Seeing that I can't go by myself, I will need my bodyguard to come with me."

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek to hold back his remarks. He let out a deep sigh. "Give me an hour to shower and get ready, and I'll be there."

Felicity smiled. "Make that 30 minutes, see you soon. Make sure you wear running clothes." She quickly hung up before he could say anything else.

Oliver threw the covers back and swung his legs out the bed.

"Where are you going?" The girl next to him asked. He walked to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

"Work." He answered when he got back to the room and slipped on his boxers. He grabbed her clothes off the floor and threw them to her. "Here, you gotta go."

"It's not even the crack of dawn and why can't I just stay here?"

"You know the answer to that." He walked to his dresser and pulled out some sweats and a shirt.

"Oliver, I just got here," she griped.

"Look just put the damn clothes on and leave. I said I have to go to work. I already let you stay way longer than I intended for you to anyway."

"Fine." She mumbled as she snatched her shirt on. She hopped in her pants as she cursed under her breath, while he watched her.

"You're going to stop treating me like this," she said.

"Look," he said as he walked to the door, signaling that she needed to speed the process up. When she got to the door, she stopped and looked at him.

"Don't confuse this with an actual relationship. It's nothing, and never will be anything more than that," he said as he opened the door.

"Bastard," she yelled at him as she walked out and he let the door close.

He turned his attention to the shower, so he could prepare for Felicity and whatever they would certainly disagree about today.

* * *

><p>"Finally!" Felicity said when she opened the door and stepped out.<p>

Oliver stared back at her, face full of annoyance. He slowly looked over her body. She had on yoga pants, and a tank top.

"I've already done a sweep of the area, so let's go," he said.

"Wait. I have to stretch." She started her routine of stretches. She could see him tapping his foot out the corner of her eye.

"You couldn't do this before I got here?" He asked.

She choose to ignore him as he stared holes through her. She had to admit that she was feeling some sort of satisfaction for pissing him off. He had been rude and short with her every since they met, so this was great payback.

"Okay," she straightened up. She pulled the ponytail holder off her wrist and gathered all of her hair up in one swoop. "Let's go." She took off running.

His eyes followed her as her ponytail swung from side and then his eyes dropped the slope of her toned back and they finally landed on her ass. He wondered how often she worked out; at first he didn't take her for a girl that was serious about it, but her toned body proved otherwise. He quickly snapped back into reality and grudgingly took off behind her to catch up.

He quickly caught up to her as they ran in silence. It really surprised him that she wasn't one of those joggers that like to carry out a conversation while running. He knew she only made him come out this early to piss him off, which definitely worked. However, she seemed like someone who took fitness serious and actually was dedicated to running. He just had to make sure she never called him this early again.

"Okay," she finally stopped after what seemed like forever. She went longer than her normal time all because she wanted to spite Oliver. She crouched over and rested on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Good run partner," she patted him on the shoulder. His eyes fell down to her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's get in the house," he said as he ushered her inside.

Oliver silently nodded and spoke to the guards as they walked through the house. He followed Felicity to the kitchen leaned against the wall, hands stuck in his pockets. Felicity rolled her eyes as she went to the refrigerator. He really needed to loosen up. She had never seen someone so stiff and emotionless all the time.

"You know you can sit down right?" She asked as her back was turned to him.

"I'm fine."

"Of course you are," she closed the door. She walked up to him and reached out one of the water bottles in her hand.

"No thank you," he said.

"Too bad, I didn't ask you," she slapped the water bottle in his stomach.

He grunted as he grabbed the bottle before it fell to the floor.

"Can we have a conversation for five minutes?" She asked as she hopped on the bar stool.

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed after huffing.

"Oh my gosh, you act like I'm asking to marry you or something. Anyway, so what were you doing this morning before I called you?" She asked.

"Sleep."

"Alone or with company?" She asked.

He looked off, choosing to ignore the question of who he was with.

"That was too personal, ignore that question." She took a sip of her water. She was sure whatever kind of relationship he had would be dysfunctional as hell.

"You don't seem like the type that sleeps a lot," she casually said.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. It was her turn to play silent; she didn't really want to say what was on her mind. That she had been thinking a come to the conclusion that a lot had happened in his life, which turned him into this. That seemed to be the only logical explanation. Maybe it was because of that little psychology class she had taken in college, or maybe she was reading too deep into it, but that was the conclusion she had come to regarding Oliver. She just felt like there was a much deeper story behind his deep blue eyes.

"Oh you're quiet for once," he said.

Felicity laughed. "I can't believe you made a snarky comment. Are we're making progress?"

Oliver looked down and rolled the water bottle between his hands. Of course they weren't making progress, damn robot.

"How often do you run," he asked to her surprise.

"I try to every morning," she answered. "It's something I really like. It helps wake me up."

Oliver nodded. "Is this your normal time?"

"Of course not," she laughed.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her as she smiled at him. Felicity got the satisfaction that she had been aiming for as he yawned, but quickly tried to stifle it.

"So," Felicity continued. "What were you and that guy discussing so intently at the car shop the other day?"

"Business."

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "What business exactly?"

"Something you don't have to concern yourself with," he answered.

"Okay look. I'm not one of these girls who live in a bubble. I know what goes on and I..."

"I needed him to carry out an assignment," Oliver interrupted her. "I sent him to go kill someone; put a bullet in someone."

"So was that suppose to scare me?" Felicity smirked.

She got up and walked over to him. She looked up in his eyes, "You may call me princess, but trust me, I'm not some little coddled mafia princess."

She brushed past him as she walked off to go up to her room. Oliver turned and watched her as she walked up the stairs with her ponytail bouncing with each step.

* * *

><p>I haven't really decided what other characters I want to introduce in here besides the ones mentioned already. So, if you have any suggestions leave a review and let me know. I love getting feedback from you guys! :)<p>

**(отвали, мудак, бля! - fuck off, you asshole)**


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much for the love! Each follow, fav and review makes me blush!

* * *

><p>Felicity was sitting on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest as she stared at her laptop that was off to the side of her. She had been flirting with the idea of digging up information on Oliver. After all she was a tech wiz and could find pretty much anything she wanted to. Her degree in computer science proved that with just a couple of strokes on a computer, she could do some major things. Part of her really wanted to know more about the terminator, Oliver Queen, but she also felt like he deserved some sort of privacy, which was obviously what he wanted. It was just that he was this big mystery that she desperately wanted to solve. Her father and Raisa both said that if Oliver wanted her to know something that he would tell her. It was his business to tell, not theirs which was right but still. It had literally been weeks, close to a month, since the first day they met and she didn't know anymore about him than she did that first week. His name was Oliver Queen, he was 28 and John had raised him...and apparently he was the best guy to have for a bodyguard. People feared him, which was very evident at the car shop that day. She just needed to know the in between details. How did he come to be who he was today, and what happened to make him so cold because people just didn't become that way without a reason.<p>

She flipped open the laptop and quickly shut it back down. She shook her head and sighed. No Felicity, no. She wasn't going to do it; even though it was very tempting. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. She glanced back at the computer, it was as if it was calling her name begging her to do it. A knock at her door made her jump.

"Yes?" She called out.

"It's Oliver."

Speak of the devil. This further proved that she didn't need to do what she was thinking of doing anyway. She would just have to go the old fashioned route and get information by actually having a conversation. Easier said than done with mister mute.

"Come in," she said.

His large frame quickly consumed her doorway when he opened it and walked in. He did a double take at he when he noticed she had on glasses. He'd never seen her in her glasses. She looked relaxed. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had on grey sweats and a white tank.

"I was just here seeing your father. I stopped by to see if you needed anything before I left," he finally said.

"Nope, I'm good. Thank you though."

He nodded as her phone started vibrating on her bed. His eyes fell down to the phone at the same time as hers did and he saw the name Cooper flash across the screen.

He looked back at her before she could notice that he saw the name. He backed out without saying a word. She picked up the phone and declined the call. She noticed that Oliver had the weirdest look on his face before he left out. She crawled out the bed and walked over to the door. She slipped the phone back in her pocket as she walked to the door. When she yanked the door open and stepped out, she turned right into Oliver.

She huffed as her face was once against smashed against his hard chest. Her glasses were now titled and sitting lopsided on her nose. She groaned as she snatched her glasses off her face and brushed a hand over her hair.

"Sorry," he said with his grip loosing on her arm that he was gripping to hold her up. "You okay?"

She nodded and pulled her arm away. She wondered why was he still outside her door. He should've been down the stairs by now.

"Uh..." He started.

Felicity looked at him waiting on him to give an explanation.

"I forgot to let you know that John was here. In case you wanted to see him," he said.

"Oh, okay. Yeah I do."

He nodded and moved to the side so she could walk in front of him. She walked down the stairs with Oliver closely behind her, his boots heavily stomping the stairs. She wondered why he was acting so weird, but then she remembered that everything regarding him was weird.

"Hey John!" Felicity ran over and hugged him when she spotted him sitting in the den talking with Anatoly.

"Felicity I thought you were coming by. You promised," he said.

"I know, time just got away from me."

"I'll try not to take it personally," he smiled.

"Please don't. I couldn't live with myself if I knew you harbored hard feelings about me," she said.

"I'm only teasing, but I know the perfect way for you to make it up."

"Anything, just say the word."

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked.

"Nothing," Felicity said slowly. She could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. "I'm free."

"Yeah go ahead Felicity, Lyla's is as great of a cook as Raisa," he whispered. "Don't tell her I said that though, she might poison me."

"Oh I might have to use that against you one day," Felicity laughed.

"Oliver?" John turned to him and asked.

"Same here," Oliver said as he stuffed his hand in his pockets and rested against the wall. "No business tonight."

"Great! I'll let Lyla know we're having company." He took his phone out and dialed Lyla.

"You can head home John. I'll bring Felicity," Oliver said as he stared at Felicity. "After all it is my job."

Felicity bit the inside of her cheek to keep the smart remark that was on the tip of her tongue from coming out.

"Okay, no later than 8:00," John said. He shook Anatoly's hand and patted Oliver on the chest before he left out.

"Well you two enjoy eating somewhere else other than here. I'm about to go finish a couple of things," Anatoly said.

"You need anything before I leave sir?" Oliver asked.

"No, just take care of this one here." He kissed Felicity on the cheek.

"Will do," Oliver said.

"Dad you want a plate?" Felicity asked tearing her eyes away from Oliver.

"No, your aunt would kill me if I brought someone else's food in this house."

"Okay," Felicity laughed. "See you later then."

"Are you going to get dressed or what?" Oliver asked her after Anatoly left out. He sat down on the sofa and flipped through a magazine he grabbed off the coffee table.

Felicity decided to ignore him as she marched upstairs.

* * *

><p>"Ready," she announced around thirty minutes later. She had ditched the sweats, glasses and ponytail for a blackwhite knee length dress and ankle boots. Her hair was now flowing straight.

His eyes traveled up her as he stood up. She hated when he did that. His eyes always looked judgmental and she could never tell what he was thinking. She hated a case she couldn't solve.

"Do you not approve of something?" She asked as she walked past him.

He ignored her as he led her out the door. She pulled the car door open and jumped in slamming the door. She heard him loudly sigh outside the door before he walked to the driver's side.

After they rode in silence for the next ten minutes, she decided to ask him the question that had been weighing on her mind for the last thirty minutes. She had been replaying how he was acting strange, and him saying it was his job over and over in her mind and each time she heard it she grew angrier.

"What's your problem?" She finally blurted out.

"What?" He asked confused.

"What you said in the den. After all it's my job."

Oliver's eyebrow ticked up at her in the rear view mirror. "Because it is."

"Well no shit, but you don't have to say it. I mean you act like everyone doesn't already know you're my bodyguard. We all know it's your damn job. My father is the one who hired you."

Felicity saw Oliver's hand go up.

"I swear to God if you let that up in my face while I'm talking, I'm going to bust it with my shoe."

"Well quit griping, and stop talking," he said.

"I swear you are the absolute worst. Surely you can't enjoy being this difficult and acting like this."

"It's not an act."

"So you're just a natural asshole?"

"Yes, if that makes you feel better."

She rolled her eyes, as she pressed her body back against the seat. She crossed her arms and muttered under her breath. The mutters quickly turned into curse words as she saw Oliver hit the button and the window rolled up.

When they made it to John's place. Oliver opened the door, and she uncrossed her legs and got out.

"Wait," she said when he shut the door. "I left my purse in there. Will you do your job and retrieve it for me?"

She smiled at him as his jaw clenched. He fished his keys out of his pocket as his eyes held her in his gaze. He unlocked the door and reached in and yanked out her purse. He reached it to her as he slammed the door shut.

"Thank you," she said as she snatched it from him.

"Come on," he said as grabbed her arm and walked them towards the house.

He spoke to the guard standing outside with a head nod as they climbed the steps. The guard watched them as Felicity snatched her arm away from Oliver and threw her purse on her shoulder.

"You don't have to hold me," she said.

He sighed before he grabbed her hips, ushering her in front of him. "You're suppose to stay in front of me," he leaned down by her ear and whispered. He knocked on the door as he looked down at Felicity, waiting on someone to answer the door. Felicity could feel Oliver's eyes beaming down on her.

She sighed as she picked at her nails. "You're becoming a little too touchy feely," she told him.

"I wouldn't have to if you did what you were suppose to," he said as he looked over at the guard.

Lyla opened the door before Felicity had a chance to counter what Oliver said. She immediately dropped her frown and matched Lyla's smile.

"Hey you two! Come on in," Lyla said.

"Thanks for letting us crash your dinner," Felicity said as they walked in.

"Anytime," Lyla said as she pulled Felicity into a hug. "According to John, you were suppose to pay us a visit a long time ago."

"Yes I know, but I didn't want to inconvenience Oliver here. I'm sure he has a life outside of chauffeuring me around."

Oliver forced a smile before he kissed Lyla on the cheek. Lyla handed him two beers off the counter and ushered him over to join John on the couch.

"So Lyla, you need any help in the kitchen," Felicity asked.

"Sure come on. We can catch up while we finish up.

Oliver watched Felicity as she talked with Lyla and busied herself in the kitchen. His mind went back to the name that was on Felicity's phone earlier. He tapped Diggle on the leg to get his attention.

"Hmm?" Diggle turned from the tv.

"Do you know a Cooper?" Oliver whispered to him.

"Cooper," Diggle repeated the name to himself. "I don't think I do."

"Okay," Oliver said as he took a swig of his beer.

"Why?" Diggle asked confused.

"I saw that name on Felicity's phone and I don't remember her saying anything about a Cooper when she gave me the list of people or friends she might be in contact with."

"Oh," Diggle said slowly. "No last name?"

Oliver shook his head.

"You asked Anatoly?"

"No, we went over the list together, and he didn't have anyone to add. I'm going to do some digging and see what I can find out," Oliver said as he glanced back towards the kitchen.

"So, how is it having Oliver as a bodyguard?" Lyla asked. She handed Felicity the tableware. Felicity shrugged as she began to arrange the plates.

"It's...interesting, and I'm pretty sure I hate him. No I know I hate him." He's just so..."

Felicity didn't even know the words to describe Oliver. Anytime somebody asked about him, all she could do was shrug. He had given her absolutely nothing to go with.

"He's so serious all the time. I mean I've literally never seen him laugh, or show even a hint of a smile. He's like a robot."

Lyla laughed. "I can't say that's the first time I've heard Oliver be described that way."

"I'm serious," she said glancing back catching Oliver's eyes on her. She quickly turned back around.

"Give him some time, he'll open up."

"Yeah I won't hold my breath on that," Felicity mumbled. "At this point I'm just ready for this to be over and I can stop having him watch me."

Lyla passed Felicity the salad as she sat it in the middle of the table.

"Have you been difficult Felicity?" Lyla asked.

"No," Felicity laughed. "Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"You know how headstrong you are," Lyla laughed. "I can only imagine it's gotten stronger. So you and Oliver together should be fun to watch."

"I'm glad you're enjoying this so much Lyla."

"Yes, I look forward to the stories," she grinned. "Now shall we eat," she motioned for John and Oliver to come to the kitchen. "Oh and no drama during dinner."

"Of course not." Felicity said as she felt Oliver's eyes on her. She looked at him and bugged her eyes at him. He didn't take the hint to look away because he kept his eyes trained on her. Gosh she really wished he would stop doing that.

* * *

><p>The night after the dinner, Oliver was waiting to hear back from his connection about Cooper. Oliver sat in his room at his desk. His beagle Ace was stretched out in his lap, as he scratched his belly. He twirled a glass in his other hand as he leaned back trying to think of some good reasons as to why Felicity hadn't mentioned anything. There was one he could think of, but he wanted confirmation first. His phone buzzed against the table.<p>

"Yeah," he answered as he sat up.

"I looked into that person like you asked. The info should be coming to you as we speak," the voice on the other end said.

Oliver sat Ace down on the ground and then grabbed his computer and opened it. A couple of seconds later a file popped up on screen.

"Alright, I got it," he said as he double clicked it.

"Anything else?"

"Send it to my phone too," Oliver told him.

"Already did. Anything else?"

"No that's all. Thanks Roy," he ended the call.

He sat up as he read the report Roy had drawn up. Nothing alarming about the young boy popped out at him. His arrest record was clean, but there was something that just didn't sit right with Oliver about this guy. As he scrolled through the pictures, one of his suspicions was confirmed.

He finished reading through the file. He jumped up, grabbed his keys off the mantle and headed to pay Felicity a visit.

* * *

><p>Felicity had just crawled in her bed when there was a knock on her door.<p>

She sighed. "Yes?"

"It's Oliver."

She angrily threw the covers back and snatched her robe off her chair and threw it on.

She lazily walked over to the door and slowly pulled it open. She leaned against the door and propped her hand on her hip. "My father is not here, and I don't remember saying I needed you for anything." she said.

Oliver didn't say anything as he brushed past her and entered the room.

"I know he's not here, I need to talk to you."

"You talk?" She laughed and closed the door.

He blank stared at her until she stopped laughing.

"Okay go ahead," she said.

"Felicity are you keeping something from me?"

Oliver watched Felicity's reaction closely as the smile on her face dropped and her eyes darkened.

"Nothing to say?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" She crossed her arms over her chest as she cocked her head to the side.

"Don't play that shit with me Felicity," he snarled. "Who is Cooper Seldon?"

"How do you know..."

"I saw him on your phone." He cut her off.

"Wait! Did you spy on me?"

"I didn't have to spy on you. He called you when I was in your room and I saw it."

"Oh my God! Is that why you have been acting extremely weird the past two days. Oh and for you, that's a major accomplishment."

Oliver rolled his eyes and asked again. "Who is he?"

Nobody special," she answered.

"Liar."

"Fuck you." She rolled her eyes and made a move to walk off. She didn't get far before Oliver grabbed her arm and soon her back was pressed against the cool wall. He blocked her from moving by throwing his hands out on each side of her head as he glared down at her.

"Get out of my face," she hissed.

"Not until you tell me why you conveniently left this person off your list. Don't make my job harder than it has to be."

She looked up at Oliver for a long moment, pondering how exactly she wanted to answer his question.

"I don't have to tell you shit," she said.

"Felicity," he yelled through gritted teeth. "I specifically told you to give me a rundown of people you talk to or might have over, but somehow this Cooper guy failed to make your list."

When Felicity stayed silent he decided to ramble off the things he learned in his file. "Cooper Seldon, 23 years old. The two of you went to school together. I even have a couple of pictures of you two together. You know just enjoying a cup of coffee."

She frowned as she grew angrier with the realization that Oliver had did a full background check and dug into her personal business. "You ass! You have no right.."

"No I do have the right! Don't lie to me and I wouldn't have to dig up information on you," he growled.

"That's not your job."

"My job is protecting you. When you act secretive and lie, I'm going to draw conclusions and try to find out. I have to make sure nothing happens to you, even when you're being stupid." His tone was full on intimidating. She concluded that this was the tone and look he used to scare people. His words came out as a growl and his chest rose up and down as he glared down at her when he spoke.

"Nobody was lying to you. He's just not that important," he told her.

"So the guy you were sleeping with in college is not important?"

"What?"

"You heard me loud and clear. Why did your boyfriend not make the list?"

"Oh so you care about who gets in my pants?"

"Don't flatter yourself," he said. He eliminated the inch of space that was remaining between them, as he pressed up against her. His hands slid down the wall as they landed by her hips. "Answer me." With how close they were he could smell a berry scent radiating off of her. She smelled sweet and for a minute he forgot he was pissed.

"There's nothing to tell, and he's not my boyfriend."

She stared up in his hard blue eyes as he looked down at her, contemplating whether he wanted to believe her. She cleared her throat as she looked away. She caught a glimpse of a small smirk and it immediately pissed her off. He was so damn full of himself and was the true definition of an asshole. She quickly shook the thought of calling him sexy out of her mind and regained focus. She couldn't believe she talked herself out of finding information on him, when he did the exact same thing to her. She angrily pushed against his chest to get him off of her, but of course he didn't move.

"I can't believe you dug up information on me! I should've went with my first mind and dug up all the information I could find out about you," she threatened. "You're not the only one who can find hidden things."

"You won't." He moved out of the way as she swung at him. He caught her arms by the wrist and held them in front of her.

"Oh really? Don't test me," Felicity said. She tried to pull away from him but she couldn't.

"No," Oliver pressed his body back against hers again and leaned down closer to her. His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered to her.

**"Нет, вы не испытать мне принцессу. Если что-то я хочу , чтобы вы знали . Я расскажу вам сам. Итак, позвольте мне сделать себе ясно снова. Не испытывай меня ."**

She turned her face as her lips brushed against his cheek. He looked down at her as she looked up at him, and finally let her go. He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hands through his short crop of hair. What had he signed up for? He thought he would only have to drive her and her friends around to different shopping centers, typical girl stuff. But no, Felicity had been stubborn from the start. Trying to get him to open up, trying to get him talk, which was a big surprise. He didn't expect her to take a interest in him. Then he found out she was hiding this Cooper guy from him and he got pissed. There was something off and he really couldn't put his finger on it.

Felicity pulled the robe tighter around her as she peeled herself off the wall.

"Next time Cooper calls, don't decline it. Talk to him and tell him I would like to meet him," he smirked. "Goodnight Felicity."

He purposely brushed against her as he walked to her door. He glanced back at her before he closed the door behind him.

It took a couple of moments for everything that had just happened to register with Felicity. As she stood in the middle of her floor frozen in place, stunned at how Oliver had just rendered her speechless. She angrily slapped her light off, and snatched her robe off before she crawled back in the bed.

"Asshole," she mumbled. Oliver had really barged in here and lectured her about hiding things, when she knew absolutely shit about him. She roughly tossed herself on her side, as she tried to push thoughts of her stupid bodyguard out of her mind.

* * *

><p><strong>"Нет, вы не испытать мне принцессу. Если что-то я хочу , чтобы вы знали . Я расскажу вам сам. Итак, позвольте мне сделать себе ясно снова. Не испытывай меня ." = <strong>No, don't you test me princess. If there's something I want you to know. I will tell you myself. So let me make myself clear again. Don't test me.

A/N...Hope you liked, and I briefly introduced Roy and Lyla.

I still want to give Felicity a friend, so I have three choices in mind and I want you guys to choose the winner.

1. Thea (if you choose Thea, you will have to completely forget she is Oliver's sister on the show. I'm set on Oliver being an only child in this story.

2. Sara

3. Caitlyn

So drop a review and let me know what you think of the chapter and also your vote. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the wonderful response! Caitlin is the winner!

* * *

><p>Oliver sat in the den as he watched the flames of his fireplace crackle and pop. It had been a couple of days since he'd seen Felicity. He knew she was probably still pissed at him because she had sent him a very long explicit text message letting him know exactly that. Even as the days passed, he was still trying to wrap his mind around what really happened with Felicity. She had gotten him so flustered and frustrated, and that never happens. He wasn't used to this type of girl. She didn't back down from him, and in his egotistical mind, it was sort of a turn on. When he was against her on the wall, a vision of his lips against hers flashed through his mind. What the hell was really going on with him?<p>

He needed to clear his mind. His finger hovered over one of the contacts in his phone as he contemplated calling one of the girls in there; girls who he knew wouldn't give him a hard time. Maybe that was what he needed; to get laid, and release some tension that way. He hit one of the numbers and then quickly ended the call. He decided against making a call he would regret as he swallowed the rest of the liquid that was in his glass. His mind was all messed up and it was because of Felicity.

* * *

><p>"So why is Oliver so broody?" Felicity was sitting in her father's office. He had called her in there because he was having trouble with his computer. She fixed it for him and now they were just talking.<p>

"That's his business to tell not mines," he told her.

"Well why do you trust him so much? Can I ask that?" She'd asked this question millions of times seemed like and no answer yet.

"Nope."

"But..."

"No," Anatoly held his hand up and cut Felicity off. "Look if Oliver wants you to know this stuff he will tell you."

"So you trust me with knowing all about this life and what you really do, but you can't tell me what happened between you and Oliver that makes him so trustworthy."

"Correct." He held his hand up basically telling Felicity that the conversation was over.

Felicity melted back into the leather seat. She chewed on the pen that was in her hand. She was still pissed with Oliver about their little altercation in her room. She could see his cold blue eyes staring down on her. She was desperately trying to think of another way to describe what she was feeling in that moment, but the only thing that kept flashing through her mind was the words turned on. It was the eyes that did it. Damn the eyes.

"Felicity!"

"Huh?" She snapped out of her trance to hear him calling her name.

"When is the last time you've had self defense training?" Anatoly asked.

"None other than the couple of rec classes I took at college. Nothing like I used to get here."

"Done anything since you've been back?"

"Nope. I've been doing my normal workouts though. You know running, and other little light things," she answered.

"Oh okay. I need you to start back, and knock that rust off. Never know when it will come in handy. I want you to be able to defend yourself, even with Oliver there."

Before Anatoly could get the last sentence out of his mouth, she knew what he was about to say and she was already groaning internally.

"So, I'm going to have Oliver train you," he said, confirming what she already knew.

A forced smile appeared on her face as she groaned internally. "Should be fun."

She walked over behind him and draped her arms around his neck. She placed a peck on his cheek. "Why can't you train me?"

Anatoly held his head back and laughed. "Oh yeah I'll be sure to do that."

"You used to," Felicity laughed.

"I'm not as young as I used to be. You would probably beat my ass now," he looked up and told her.

She sat down on the edge of his desk. "You taught me a lot though."

He smiled at the memory of him having training sessions with her in his mind. He had started training her after her mother passed. He said he was doing it to take her mind off of the death, but he soon realized he needed it as much as she did.

_"Dad why do I need to know this stuff?" a 13 year old Felicity asked her father._

_"Because I want you to be strong, and always able to defend yourself," Anatoly said._

_"Defend myself from what?" Her innocence bled through her words._

_Anatoly crouched down in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes. He took a moment to think before he talked to her. He had wrestled with the thought of when was the right time to tell her the truth about what the family really was. With everything that happened with Donna passing away, he wondered if it might be too much. Donna had told him to do it whenever he felt that it was time. He talked it over with Raisa and she brought it to his attention that since Felicity was getting older, it was better to go ahead and tell the truth. Her being curious and accidentally finding something out, would not be the best way to find out. It would be a lot better to hear the truth from her father._

_"Look sweetie, just do this with me, and when we're done, I will explain everything to you. Okay?"_

_"Okay," she nodded._

_"Okay," he smiled. "Let's go."_

_So that's what he did. He started her training and then he sat her down and explained to her what Bratva was. She was a very mature girl for her age, and she took everything in, even better than he expected her to. Yes, she had questions, but she wasn't horrified or scared by any of the information she was given. He made it clear that even though she basically could get anything she wanted, that she still had to work hard. She would not just have things handed to her. She was going to be dedicated in school and any other activities she chose to participate in.  
><em>

_That day was the start of their routine for years following. He would would train her, and teach her. She did't let him down either, she blossumed into a beautiful and smart young lady.  
><em>

"So," Anatoly snapped out his flashback "This time it's going to be Oliver. Don't worry, you'll be in good hands. Trust me," Anatoly said.

"Oh I know I will be," she said with a sarcastic tone.

* * *

><p>"I swear I'm not exaggerating," Felicity said.<p>

"I don't think he's that bad," Caitlin laughed.

Caitlyn was Felicity's friend she had met during college. They were in freshman orientation together. They complimented each other's outfit that day and soon learned they had a lot in common. Well minus the Bratva leader daughter part, but a lot of other interests.

"That's because you haven't met him. Now my dad is making me train with him. I mean I literally see him all of the time, we're attached at the hip."

"Sounds like you guys are married to me," Caitlin said. Caitlin had been enjoying hearing the adventures of Felicity and Oliver. They were very entertaining and with each story Caitlin suspected there was something more there.

Felicity sucked a long breath in as Caitlin laughed in her ear at her own joke.

"Anyway," Felicity said. "Speaking of married, how are you and Ronnie?" Ronnie was Caitlin's boyfriend. They were practically inseparable, so Felicity always joked about them being married.

"We're good. Now don't change the subject."

"I wasn't," Felicity lied.

"Maybe you two should go out some place," Caitlin suggested. "You know, just relax or something."

Felicity scoffed. "How is that suppose to help?"

"I mean you will get out of the house. You even said yourself you've practically locked yourself in your room since the argument because you don't feel like dealing with him unless you have to."

"Yeah so..."

"So going out will at least give you a chance to sort of relax."

"There's no relaxing with Oliver, trust me."

"Is he coming over today," she asked. "I literally can not wait until I meet this man. The stories are glorious, especially this latest incident. I mean to me, it just seems like he let his male ego get out of control. I don't think it was anything malicious. You know how men get. He saw another guy's name and went into overprotective mode. Plus I know you."

"Wait, why are you taking up for him?"

"I'm not."

"Your best friend rights are getting dangerously close to being revoked," Felicity said.

"I know you said something smart to him Felicity," Caitlin said.

Felicity huffed. "I mean, I might have told him to fuck off, but still..."

"See!"

"He didn't even have to get that upset over Cooper because there is nothing there anymore," Felicity said.

"Are you sure? Because I can recall receiving a regret text not that long ago," Caitlin said.

"Okay, I had a moment of weakness. It definitely won't happen again."

"Just making sure," Caitlin said.

Felicity heard a knock on her door. She looked at Caitlin and sighed; she already knew who it was.

She got up and walked to the door.

"Hey," Oliver said after she opened the door. He walked past her and entered her room.

"Well come right on in Oliver," Felicity said, with a sarcastic tone.

"Are you ready..." He stopped talking when he saw Caitlin sitting at the head of the bed. "Oh."

"Oliver meet Caitlin, Caitlin meet Oliver," Felicity introduced them.

"Hi," Caitlin smiled and waved.

"Nice to meet you Caitlin," Oliver said.

"Same here. I've heard a lot about you. You and Mr. Diggle, is he here?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll meet him soon," Oliver said before turning his attention to Felicity. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He placed his hand on her elbow as he guided her to the corner of her room.

"What?" Felicity hissed.

"Why didn't I know she would be here?"

"Oliver don't you start this with me."

"I'm waiting for an answer," he whispered.

"Well I'm sorry father. I didn't know I had to ask permission for my best friend to come over. Oh and you have some nerve..."

Caitlin watched Oliver and Felicity as they whispered back and forth in hushed tones. The tension between the two of them was enough to fill the entire house.

"So I'm just going to head out, it seems like you two have some things to talk out," she said.

"Wait. You don't have to," Felicity said. "I'm done talking with Oliver."

"No we're not," he whispered.

"Felicity, you have some training to get to, so I won't hold you up. It was very nice meeting you Oliver."

She looked at Felicity and whispered good luck before she slipped out.

"I really hate you," Felicity turned to Oliver and said.

"I think the feeling is mutual," he snapped back.

"Why are you even acting like this? I'm pretty sure you did your extensive background check," she folded her arms across her chest.

"As a matter of fact I did," he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You didn't lie about her, so my job was a lot easier this time."

"Oh fuck off," she snarled.

"So I'm lying?"

"Don't even bring that up to me," she said. "I'm still pissed about that..."

"I really don't care," he shrugged. "Get ready, so we can get this training started," he said cutting her off before she could make a smart ass comment.

He walked off and left her standing once again. She was getting really tired of him doing that. That was usually her move and he was taking it from her.

* * *

><p>"Nice place," she said as she walked around Oliver's place.<p>

He tossed his keys on the mantle and threw his jacket on the couch. He took his gun off his hip and placed it on the mantle.

His place was simple yet fitting for him. Not too many decorations, but just enough to show that he lived there. There were two framed pictures sitting above the fireplace on the mantle. She could feel Oliver's eyes on her as she walked over and looked at them. The first one was of him and John.

"This is a nice picture of you and John."

Her eyes traveled to the other one and it was an older picture of a couple.

"Are these your parents?" She asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"It's a nice picture. You look a lot like your father."

"Thanks," he gave her a slight smile. Seeing him actually form a genuine smile shocked her. She gave him a small smile back.

Felicity whipped her head around when she heard some feet scurrying on the floor. She saw his puppy running and sliding into the room.

"You have a dog," she asked, eyes widening in excitement.

The dog slid to a stop at Oliver's feet once he noticed Felicity. The puppy looked over at her and waged his tail.

Oliver bent down and rubbed the puppy's head as he barked.

"Awww he's adorable." Felicity walked over. "Can I pet him? It's a boy right?"

"Yeah," Oliver nodded.

She crouched down and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"What's your name?" She rubbed behind the dogs ear.

She looked up at Oliver, "Name?"

"Ace," he told her.

"That's cute. How old is he?" She scratched under the neck.

"A year," Oliver answered.

"Oh he's still a baby."

"Yeah I got him soon after he was born," Oliver said.

Felicity picked the puppy up. He licked her hands as she rubbed his head, admiring his soft fur.

"You want something?" Oliver said as he walked to the kitchen. The puppy hopped out of Felicity's arm and ran off to the kitchen.

"No thank you, but I think somebody else does."

She sat down on the stool at the island. She watched Oliver as he poured out some Kibble and water for the puppy.

"I wouldn't exactly take you for a dog person," Felicity said.

"Well I'm glad I could surprise you."

Felicity let out a light groan as she shook her head at Oliver. She never knew she could hate somebody as much as she hated him.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing," she waved her hand at him. She left out the kitchen and walked to the living room. She sat down and flipped through the outdated magazine on his coffee table.

"When are we going to start this training?" She yelled at him. "So I can get away from you," she whispered to herself.

"Let me go change, and I'll be right out. Don't bother anything."

"Yes sir!" She yelled, rolling her eyes. She threw the magazine back on the table.

She leaned her head back against the couch.

She took out her phone to text Caitlin. _Just letting you know he's still being an ass._

Ace came over and stopped at her feet.

"Hey," she said looking down on him. He sat back on his legs and nudged at her feet. He was an adorable puppy. The tan coat on him was very smooth. She could tell Oliver took good care of him.

She sat the phone down and scooped him up once he started clawing at her legs.

"Hey little buddy. Your owner is an asshole but, you seem to like him."

The dog stretched out in her lap. She was kind of taken aback at how the dog was so receptive to her. She was usually good with babies and animals, but this was Oliver Queen's dog, and the friendly nature of little Ace was a nice contrast to his owner.

"Hey, you ready?" She heard Oliver's voice behind her. He had been quietly watching her play and talk to the dog.

She glanced back, and Oliver's body caught her attention. He had shed his suit and was now dressed in a tank top and some thin pants that left very little to the imagination. She had a quick flashback of his body pushed up against hers on the wall. She wasn't blind and knew he was attractive, but being an asshole can make you a lot less appealing.

"Are you coming, or are you going to sit there and stare?" He asked her. He had a tennis ball in his hand that he started bouncing on the floor. Ace instantly heard the ball and jumped out her lap.

"Your dog likes me," she said ignoring his question. She stood up and unzipped her jacket, revealing her tank that showed a small about of skin above her capris.

"I haven't even known Ace thirty minutes, and we're already on better terms than me and you. I'm surprised you have a sweet dog. I thought someone like you would surely have an evil, mean dog considering that dogs usually take after their owner."

She walked over to him and stood in front of him. His tall frame towering down over her petite body.

"Are you just going to stand here and stare at me?" She asked as he looked at her.

Oliver shifted his eyes. "Follow me."

"So why did I have to come to your personal gym and train, when we have one at my house," she asked. She followed him down a stairwell. He punched in a key code and slowly opened a door.

"Because I didn't want any distractions," he said.

"It really doesn't surprise me that you have this extravagant gym."

She was admiring his equipment when Oliver grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the mats.

"Wait! I wasn't done exploring. I didn't even look at your weapons display over there," she protested.

"You can finish doing that when we're done." He pointed to the spot where he wanted her to stand. "Now come on, let's get lesson number one started."

* * *

><p>Felicity walked into the living room and saw Oliver sitting and talking to a younger guy on the couch. Oliver slightly turned and looked at her and then went back to talking. The guy looked at her and gave her a slight smile.<p>

Felicity sucked her teeth as she walked towards the couch and stood over Oliver.

"So are you going to introduce us?" Felicity asked Oliver.

Oliver looked at her for a moment. "Roy, Felicity. Felicity, Roy," he finally said.

"Nice to meet you Roy," Felicity held out her hand.

"Likewise," he stood and shook her hand. "It's nice to finally meet the boss's daughter. Heard a lot about you."

"Oh really? From who?" Felicity cocked her head towards Oliver, who had his eyes trained on Roy.

"Uh," Roy cleared his throat as he looked from Felicity to Oliver. Felicity bit back her laugh as she squinted her eyes at Roy.

"Roy, I think we're done here. Don't you have to get ready for Verdant tonight?" Oliver interrupted.

"Yeah so I should get going," Roy said.

"Wait!" Felicity stopped Roy. Felicity heard Oliver sigh. She ignored him and turned to Roy. "You run Verdant?"

"Yep," Roy nodded.

"So what exactly is your job. If you don't mind me asking."

"Well I'm this guy's right hand man basically, and I run Verdant. You know we use it for some meetings and..."

"Yeah I know all about the things that go on there. I just didn't know you ran it. I expected it to be someone older, like Oliver here."

Roy bit back his laugh when he saw Oliver look at Felicity.

"Well it was nice meeting you Felicity. I have to get going."

"Nice meeting you too Roy," she smiled.

Roy nodded. "You should come to Verdant one night," he told her.

"I'll have to take you up on that one day."

Roy gave one last smile before he left out.

"Any plans tonight?" She asked Oliver after Roy left.

"Nope."

"Good, we're going to Verdant tonight," she patted him on the chest and walked off.

"Fe-li-ci-ty," he dragged her namae out as he grabbed her arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," she snatched her arm away. "Roy invited me, and I'm tired of being camped up in the house, so Verdant it is."

"Fine, I'll be back in one hour. Be ready when I return," he growled.

He grabbed her by elbows and shifted her to the side. He looked back at her when he reached the door. "One hour," he repeated.

* * *

><p>Verdant was loud and vibrant. The dance floor was filled with dancing and gyrating couples, and the walls were lined with the exact same thing. Only if the guests knew what happened in some of those secret rooms.<p>

Oliver didn't like the attention Felicity was drawing with the dress she had on. She was wearing a black mini dress. The sides were cut out right above her hip bones, so her velvety skin was on display. The black heels, adorning her feet made her legs go on for days, and her blonde curls fell past her shoulders. Oliver had been giving different guys his famous death glare all night, and no one attempted to bother Felicity. Different Bratva members that were sprinkled through the crowd acknowledged and approached Felicity with respect, they knew not to say anything out of the way. The night was going fine until he decided to put his foot in his mouth.

"So are you meeting Cooper here or something?"

"What?" She asked as she looked up from her compact mirror. She had been in the process of checking her lipstick.

"Are you meeting Cooper," he asked again.

"Why would I be?" She grabbed the drink Roy had specially made for her and sipped it.

He really hated when she answered his question with question with another question.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You tell me. I just figured you would be meeting someone here, Caitlin or maybe Cooper."

She stared at him over her glass. She brushed her hair off her shoulders and let out a light laugh.

"Did I tell you that? No. So I don't know why you're jumping to conclusions."

"Wouldn't be the first time you haven't told me something."

"You know I'm beginning to notice something," she said. "You only talk to me when it's about Cooper. Why do you keep bringing him up?"

"Are you going to answer the question? Let me warn you again, don't lie to me Felicity," he leaned in closer and whispered.

"No I'm not meeting Cooper. Cooper and I are done. Now shut up and leave me the hell alone."

"Really?" Oliver scoffed.

"Are you deaf? It's not that loud in here, you heard what I said."

"You haven't exactly been trustworthy," he said under his breath.

She pushed herself off the couch and stormed off.

"Where are you going?" He quickly caught up with her.

She knocked his hand away from her as he attempted to grab her.

"Away from you," she said.

"No you're not." He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the private VIP section.

"Yes I am Oliver. You're really pissing me off. You are just such an ass, and it's like you don't even care about other people's feelings," she yelled through clenched teeth.

"Listen to me..."

"No! You know what?" Felicity pushed Oliver. Her shove took him by surprise as he stumbled back. "I am really growing tired of you and your bullshit. First off, you've been a mean asshole since the first day we met. Then you dig into my private life, barge into my room, push me against the wall and harass me about something, instead of talking and having a conversation like an adult. I don't know what happened in your life to make you become this fucked up individual that you are today, but I would appreciate it if you stopped acting like it's my fault."

"But..."

"There is nothing going on with Cooper," she said. "Nothing! So will you please stop bringing him up?"

Oliver studied her face as she went on her rant. He saw a hint of sadness flash through her eyes.

"Felicity..." He tried to interrupt her again, but she kept going. She was obviously on a roll.

"Nobody is lying to you okay. I didn't tell you about Cooper because we broke up. There was never any malicious attempt to lie to you. I don't care about you enough, to try to make you jealous, mad or whatever the hell it is that you are feeling. I haven't talked to him since we had meaningless sex before all of this stuff started and before I was attached to an asshole for a bodyguard. So there you have it. You wanted the truth you got it."

"Felicity, I..."

She brushed her hair out of her face, "I'm ready to go," she said cutting him off.

She sighed. "Ready to go," she repeated when he didn't move.

"Okay, let me just find Roy and let him know."

She grabbed her clutch that had fallen to the floor and folded her arms, tapping her foot.

Oliver pulled back the curtain, and stepped back so Felicity could walk out. She brushed past him. She had an angry walk going and it made her hips jerk. With every step she took his eyes inadvertently traveled up her legs and zeroed in on her butt. He threw the drink back that was still in his hand and walked off to catch up with her. He spotted her talking to Roy.

"I had a nice time Roy," he heard her saying when he walked up. "Thanks for inviting me."

"You leaving already?" Roy asked. He looked from Felicity to Oliver.

"Yeah."

Roy looked up at Oliver who just shook his head, telling him not to ask. "Oh well I'll see you around," he said.

Oliver leaned down and whispered something into Roy's ear as Felicity rolled her eyes. More business talk she was sure; she was just ready to go home.

When Oliver finally showed that he was finished, she walked off as he guided her through the crowd. The touch of Oliver's hand on her was pissing her off even more. She couldn't wait to get to the car.

Oliver opened the door for her as she slid in. She snatched the door away from him and slammed it shut. She threw her purse on the side of her. Seeing Oliver's smug face was not what she wanted to do. She quickly hit the butto n for the window and it slowly rolled up.

Oliver slid into the driver's seat, when he turned around his eyes met the window. That was the first time she had actually closed it own her own. She must have really been pissed. He gripped the steering wheel as his knuckles turned white. Felicity was going to force him to apologize.

When they made it back to her house, she stormed to the front door after Oliver let her out the car. He followed her up the stairs and was about to follow her in before she slammed the door in his face. He cursed under his breath as he walked back down the stairs. When he got back to the car, he saw Felicity's purse still on the seat.

"Don't ask," he mumbled as he walked past the two guards standing outside, who had been watching the entire exchange. One guard laughed and patted him on the back as he opened the door for him.

He shook his head to himself as he palmed his purse in her hand.

"Hey Oliver," he heard a voice say.

He looked up and saw Raisa staring at him.

"Hey Raisa," he looked at his watch. "You're up pretty late.'

"Yeah, I'm a night owl." Her eyes fell down to the purse in his hands. "Felicity's?"

"Yes," he nodded. "She left it in the car. Well since you're still up, you want to give it to her for me?" Maybe he would actually get out of seeing her again and having another confrontation.

"No, you can," she nodded towards the stairs. "She stormed up to her bedroom."

"Right," he said softly.

"Goodnight Oliver," she said and patted him on the back.

He could tell that Raisa clearly knew that Felicity was pissed, and wanted him to feel her wrath.

Oliver finally made his way up to her room and knocked on the door. "It's me."

"What?" she yelled back.

"Will you just open the door?" he sighed.

"Why?"

"You left your purse, so I'm returning it to you."

"You could've just left that downstairs or with Raisa," she said.

Oliver leaned his forehead against the door. "Look, she told me bring it up to you. Now will you open the door?"

Of course Raisa told him to bring the purse up. She thought it was hilarious that Oliver had pissed her off once again. Apparently this pairing of her and Oliver just brought laugh and giggles to everybody.

"Please," Felicity heard Oliver say. She angrily pulled the door open.

Oliver noted at how quickly she had changed her clothes. She was now dressed down in a pair of leggings and loose sweater that hung off her shoulders. Her curls were gathered up in a messy bun on top of her head.

Felicity held her hand out as Oliver placed the purse in it. She tried to close the door, but Oliver stuck his foot out and blocked it.

"May I come in," he asked.

"Why?"

"To talk," he answered.

"Our talks," she used air quotes, "usually don't go well."

"This one will, I promise. Please?"

She reluctantly gave in and walked over to her bed and sat down. Oliver stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Look, I..." Oliver started.

Oliver couldn't believe he was actually apologizing right now. Apologizing just wasn't something he did. It was either his way or tough luck. He really didn't care if someone liked it not, what he said and how he said it went, no questions asked. He didn't even know what or how to say it.

"I uh," he scrubbed the nape of his neck. "I'm sorry I upset you. Obviously something happened between you and this Cooper guy, and it seems like I brought up some bad memories, and I apologize for that."

He looked at Felicity to see if she was going to talk, but she was silent. She was forcing him to fully apologize.

"And...," he sighed. "Look I'm not used to doing this," he pointed from himself to her. This arrangement was not something he was comfortable with. He wasn't used to someone actually taking an interest in him. He had grown accustomed to pushing people away and keeping them at arm's length.

She eyed Oliver, and could tell he was not used to apologizing to people. He really didn't know what to say and he was struggling forming full sentences.

"Look we both have high strong personalities, and we're going to clash sometimes," he said.

"More like all the time," Felicity said.

"Let me apologize again. I'm sorry for being an asshole and upsetting you, so do you accept it?"

Felicity tucked her legs under her and studied Oliver for a couple of moments. She had to admit that she was shocked that he actually took the time to say he was sorry. No it wasn't the best apology but it was something. The longer she stared at him, the more uncomfortable he got. He shifted on his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He glanced around her room, and could never hold his look on her.

"Okay," she finally said. "I accept it, even though it was sort of a half ass apology."

"Well good, I guess," he said. He turned towards the door before turning back to her. "Let's make a deal."

"A deal," she asked.

"Yes, since you accepted the apology, at our next training session, you can ask me any question and I'll answer it," he told her.

"Really," Felicity stood up.

"Yes," he nodded. "Promise."

"Okay deal."

Oliver held his hand out. Felicity looked down at his hand. Felicity gave him a strange and confused look.

"Come on, just do it. We're wiping the slate clean," he said.

Oliver was really surprising her. If she had known blowing up at him like that would do the trick, she would've done it a long time ago.

"Okay," she said slowly. She gave him her hand. His large hand quickly engulfed her as he softly held it.

"I'm Oliver," he said with a smile. It was a half smile, but you couldn't really ask for too much.

Felicity laughed at this strange interaction. "Felicity," she finally said.

"Nice to meet you princess," he said.

* * *

><p>AN...I know a lot of you ship Caitlin and Barry, but I like her with Ronnie! Anyway, I hope you liked her brief introduction, you'll see more of her later. The Felicity and Anatoky interaction as my favorite part to write. And is Felicity slowly breaking down Oliver's walls?

Hope you liked it, drop a review and let me know! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all of the love! Sends you Olicity kisses!

* * *

><p>"Give me your hands," Oliver commanded.<p>

"For what?" Felicity asked as she looked him up and down. She had just finished the rigorous stretches and techniques that Oliver made her do. She was pretty sure that he made them hard on purpose. Her entire body was on fire. He had even made her lift weights. He kept reminding her of her making the statement that she liked to stay in shape, so she shouldn't be complaining. Yes she liked staying in shape, but she didn't like having her body screaming and feeling like she was training for some kind of Olympic Games.

Oliver pulled out a pair of boxing gloves and held them up. Felicity huffed and rolled her eyes. She would've rather joined a gym membership, than workout with this drill sergeant at this point.

"Ugh Oliver, I'm..."

"Nope," Oliver cut her off and becked for her. "Right here," he pointed to the spot in front of him.

"Fine." She threw her water bottle down and walked over to him. She stood in front of him and folded her arms. She eyed the boxing bag that he pulled over towards them. He laughed to himself as he went to work on the gloves. He unstrapped them and held his hands out.

She held her hands out and mumbled under her breath. He grabbed her hand and for the first time he really noticed how small they were. The bright pink color on her manicured nails, stood out against her tan skin. His hands engulfed hers with no problem. She was so petite, but he had quickly learned that there was nothing small about her personality. That really intrigued him, having someone who wasn't afraid to snap at him, which is exactly what she had done the other night after Verdant.

Felicity noticed how slow he was moving and his touch was very suspicious. "Uh can you not get the glove on?" She closed her eyes as soon as the words left her mouth. It sounded vulgar and sexual, and she definitely wasn't going for that with him.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Nothing," she quickly said.

He tightened the straps for her and pounded her gloves. "Is it a good fit," he asked holding back his laugh.

"Yes," she snatched her hands away.

"Good, now let me show you what you will be doing."

"Oh but of course your excellence," Felicity rolled her eyes as she moved out of his way. "Where are your gloves?"

"I don't need them." He turned back around and threw a hard punch into the bag. Felicity laughed to herself because she knew he put way more emphasis on the punch than he needed to. He turned around and looked at her when he heard her stifled laugh. She quickly cut it off and motioned for him to continue.

When Oliver went back to doing the demonstrations, Felicity found herself losing focus. She was staring at his body, but not the way she was supposed to. Instead of watching the techniques, she found herself staring at his muscles. The black sleeveless muscle top had his arms on full display. The way the light was shining in the room combined with the sweat on him, he was practically glistening. Every time he made a movement, his muscles jerked.

"Felicity!" She heard him shout.

"Yes," she stuttered.

"Did you get all of that?"

"Yes," she cleared her throat. "I heard you."

"Tell me what I said."

"What?"

"Tell me what I said," he repeated.

"You said uh..." She scratched her head and closed her eyes as she tried to think of something logical to say. Whatever he had said had completely went over her head; she had heard absolutely nothing that came out of his mouth. She had been too busy admiring his body. Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and turned the corner of his lips up in a smile, as he waited for Felicity to make a complete sentence.

He finally took pity on her. "You didn't hear me did you?"

"I did," she lied.

"Well turn around and get in position," he said in a low voice. He walked around her and stood behind her.

Felicity looked back over her shoulder and met his eyes. "Do you realize how you sound when you say these things."

"Yes I do," he said. He turned his head to hers and whispered, "Now hush, so I can put you in the proper position."

Felicity felt heat engulf her body, and she quickly turned before he could see her cheeks flush. She felt him grab her hips and move, as her body jerked. He kicked out her foot with his. He ran his hands down her arm and pulled them up.

"This is the beginning stance." He said. "You're just going to hit it like this," he grabbed her wrist and brought her fist into the bag.

They were both desperately trying hard to focus. Oliver really didn't think this moment through. Having her this close with her soft body pressed hard into his; the sweet scent radiating off of her was clouding his mind. Felicity desperately need some of her water at the moment. Oliver was messing with her mind.

"Ummm Oliver I've thrown a punch before," she finally said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Right,.." he shook his head. "Well let's get started."

Felicity watched Oliver as he walked over behind the bag and held it.

"Come on," he said.

Felicity threw a right hook into the bag.

"I know you can do better than that," Oliver said.

"What was wrong with that?"

'You hit like a girl," he said. "That's what's wrong."

"Well I am a girl smart ass," she rolled her eyes.

She threw a combination of left and right punches into the bag as Oliver coached her on, with each punch having a bigger impact.

She threw another right hook, missing the bag and hitting Oliver in the nose.

"Fuck!" he yelled. His hands flew up as he grabbed his nose. He was certain it was bleeding, so it surprised him when he removed his hand and didn't see any blood.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to hit you," she said. "Are you okay," she approached him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled as he moved away from her.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"Well I definitely take back my statement about you hitting like a girl." He sighed as he looked at Felicity who was staring at him.

"So are we done with boxing for today?"

"Oh yeah, hand me those gloves," he quickly said. "We'll try something else."

* * *

><p>"Okay so ask me your question." He said handing her a towel. Oliver was finally done taking her through hell which he disguised as training. She was pretty sure he had made the regimens more difficult to get payback for almost breaking his nose.<p>

"Wait! Can we bring Ace in here? He needs my affection," she said.

"He what?"

"Needs my affection," she repeated. "Go get him, you know he loves me. Please! Look at him, he's lonely," she pointed at the security monitor. Ace was laying in the doggy bed.

"I don't know about all that," Oliver said as he walked to the door. Felicity dropped down to the floor and crossed her legs. She smiled at Oliver's sarcastic remark instead of responding to his bait.

Oliver opened the door and let out a whistle; Ace made his way into the room and ran inside scurrying past Oliver.

"See," Felicity grinned as the dog hopped in her lap.

Oliver watched Felicity as she played with the dog. She looked up and him and patted the spot beside her on the mat.

"Felicity don't make him soft," Oliver said after watching her for awhile. He sat down beside her.

"How am I making him soft? He's a puppy, you're talking like he's a baby," she said.

"Because you are softening him." Oliver had never seen Ace really accept someone as much as he was loving Felicity at the moment. Granted he hadn't been around many people, but he was still taken aback by how quickly he had to her.

"Well I usually have that effect on people," she said while staring him in his eyes trying to make him uncomfortable. She succeeded when he looked away. She saw him rub the spot where she had punched him

"Ummm your question. You better ask it before I change my mind," he said.

"Ok fine," she sat Ace to the side. She had really struggled with coming up with what question to ask him. She had so many, ranging from personal questions to just random facts. She had to pick one that he would be most comfortable with, so no parent questions yet.

"So, how long have you been in the Bratva life?"

"You couldn't start out with a what's your favorite color question, huh?" He scrubbed his chin. He grabbed a tennis ball and bounced it out of the room as Ace chased behind it.

"Nope," she shrugged. "I'm sure yours is black anyway because you're so dark and broody. Wait, are you implying I can ask more than one question?"

"I'm not implying anything," he said softly.

Felicity really didn't know how to take Oliver at times. One minute, he was all dark and barking orders and the next minute he was flirty. Maybe she was just reading it wrong, but she could usually tell when someone was flirting with her.

"Sixteen," he said.

"What?"

"I've been in Bratva since I was sixteen."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"Nope," he shrugged and hopped up. Felicity hopped up right behind him.

"Oliver you ass," she grabbed his arm.

"What," he turned back to her and was greeted with her very unamused face. "I said one question."

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him. "You have to give me more than that."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Oliver looked down at her and laughed. "I don't do what you say."

"As a matter of fact you do," she folded her arms. "You work for me remember. You always say it's your job, so I'm your employer. And as your employer, I demand that you elaborate on your answer."

Oliver smiled and leaned down towards Felicity. She took a step back, as his smile grew wider. "No," he said softly.

Oliver turned away and walked off. Felicity rolled her eyes and shoved him in the back. Oliver turned around and caught her arms and pulled her in to him. She tried to pull away from him to no use. "If you get out of this I just might tell you more."

Felicity sighed. "Oliver, I thought we were done and I'm not..." Her words were cut off when Oliver spun her around. He held her arms down in front of her. Felicity definitely took note of just how close they were. She could feel him against her, and she was pretty sure Oliver was enjoying himself. Felicity bent over and brought her arm back hitting him between the legs. Oliver let her go as he bent over to gather himself. Felicity stood back and watched his face turn red, she tried to hide the grin that was spreading over her face.

"What the hell Felicity," he groaned.

"What?" She laughed. "I got out of it."

"That's not what I taught you and you know damn well that wasn't what I was talking about." He winced in pain as he stood back up.

"You didn't say how I had to get out of it, you just said get out of it. I did, so get ready to elaborate some more on your answer." She smiled at him.

"I swear Felicity," Oliver took a couple of deep breaths as he finally regained composure. "First my nose and now this."

Felicity turned around When she wasn't looking he grabbed her arm and swiped her leg from under her.

"Oliver," she yelled as she felt her one of her feet leaving the ground. Her back hit the mat as Oliver fell over her. She brought her fist up and connected with his jaw. Gosh his jaw was hard.

"I can't believe you just punched me." He said with half a laugh.

"Yes, that's something I've been wanting to do since the first day I met you."

"I thought we had wiped the slate clean, and here you are still holding a grudge. Might I add that it's a big grudge because you've hit me three times."

"Well you shouldn't have been an ass," she shrugged.

"Am I still an ass?"

"To be determined," she answered.

Oliver's smile grew wider as his eyes scanned over Felicity. Felicity felt frozen as Oliver's blue eyes met hers. His eyes fell down to her lips as he envisioned himself kissing them. Ace, who had made his way back into the room sometime started barking louder, snapping both of them out of their trance.

"Are you going to get off of me?" She cleared her throat.

"Oh yeah sorry," Oliver said as he scrambled to his feet. He held his hand out for her, and pulled her up when she grabbed his.

"So I guess that concludes today's training," he said. "And yes I will elaborate on your question."

Felicity smiled. "Good, now sit and talk."

Oliver sat in front of her. "I've been in Bratva since I was sixteen after my father died. I was around it my entire life, but I wasn't actually introduced to it until then."

"Oh," Felicity said softly.

Oliver found himself speaking so freely to Felicity. Their relationship hadn't exactly been easy so far, but a change happened along the way and he was opening up to her, and he couldn't stop himself if he wanted to.

"My father worked with your father. He was his right side man along with John. You remember that car chop we stopped by the first day we met?"

"Yeah, the chop shop," she nodded.

"Yes if you want to be technical," he laughed.

"I'm always technical," she said."

"If you say, now be quiet. My father co owned it with John."

Felicity saw Oliver's smile drop as his face slowly turned serious again. There was silence for a couple moments as his forehead creased.

"After my father died, I took it hard. I really didn't know how to channel my sadness and anger. I started acting out. Fighting and just doing anything I knew I wasn't suppose to."

Felicity nodded as she sat and silently listened. It took her by surprise that Oliver was actually opening up to her. Yes she told him to elaborate, but she didn;t expect him to go this deep into detail.

"It was just that I had a hard time accepting his death, and then with my mother already being gone. I just had a hard time accepting it."

"Yeah a parents death is very hard to accept." Felicity reflected for a moment on when her mother passed away. She looked down and picked at the ponytail holder that was on her wrist.

"Hey I'm sorry," he placed his hand on top of hers. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories or anything." He didn't think about how talking about this may make bring up pain for her.

It took a minute for Felicity overcome the soft touch of Oliver's hand. Her eyes were trained on Oliver's hand covering hers. "No, you're fine. Continue."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded and he continued.

"When John had enough, he sat me down and told me that I could either basically act like a delinquent or make something out of my life. I chose the latter obviously and he told me everything. What he and my father really did, he elaborated on stuff I already knew and told me things that I didn't. He took me to your father and the rest is history pretty much."

"I don't really know what to say," she said.

"That's surprising," he laughed.

"I mean, I'm glad you decided to not let the tragedies keep you down. It proves just how strong you are, you turned it around."

"Thanks," he pulled hos hand away. He didn't realize, he was still holding on to her.

"So can I ask you a question," he asked, pulling his hands away. He needed to switch up the subject before things got too heavy for him and her as well.

"I don't think that was part of the deal," she replied. She took the ponytail holder off her hair and ran her fingers through her curls, letting them fall to her shoulders.

She could feel Oliver just staring at her. "Fine," she finally gave in. "Go ahead."

"So you and this Cooper guy, what happened?"

Felicity sighed as she pulled her legs underneath her. She had a feeling Oliver was going to ask about him. He had been harping on the Cooper subject since he found out about him. Felicity didn't know if she could describe it as jealously, but she knew something was off with the way Oliver had been acting lately.

Felicity shrugged before she started talking. "We just didn't work."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"Oh, after I had to literally beat more information out of you," she laughed.

"I still told you though, so go ahead and elaborate."

"You know how you meet someone and they turn out to be completely different from the person you thought they were," she continued. "Well that's what happened with Cooper. He turned about to be an asshole."

"Did he hurt you?" Oliver blurted out. He could feel anger rising up in him. For some reason he had been wanting to get his hands on this guy since he first saw his name on her phone screen.

"Hurt like physical hurt?" She asked as Oliver nodded. "No of course not, so you can wipe that angry glare off your face."

"Just checking," he said.

"Cooper's an idiot, but he's not that stupid," she laughed.

"Well he must be a big idiot if he messed up things with you."

What Oliver said shocked her. She smiled. "I guess so, huh?"

"So," she decided to turn the conversation back to him. "Any special person for you?"

"I don't remember saying you could ask another question," he said.

"Oh come on," she nudged his leg. "Please."

"There is no one," he said. "I spend most of my time with work, so I don't really have time for relationships. I'm not really a relationship guy."

"Maybe you should find someone who understands your lifestyle," Felicity shrugged. "Everyone deserves someone."

"Maybe," Oliver said as his eyes fell on Felicity's lips. His gaze was stuck on her as she brought her water bottle up to her lips.

"Uh," he slowly came back to reality. "Come with me. I should get you a protein shake, and a snack."

"As long as it's not that disgusting crap you made me last time," she groaned as she stood up.

'Maybe, maybe not," he smirked.

* * *

><p>"So I sense a shift in this relationship," Caitlin whispered to Felicity.<p>

They were at Verdant because Caitlin and Ronnie wanted to come and see what was great about the place. They had been sitting back relaxing and people watching. OLiver was even joining in on the conversations, which surprised everyone. Caitlin had been watching Oliver and Felicity's interactions throughout the night and the change was quite obvious. There was lightheartedness, laughs, smiles and even little touches, and Caitlin noticed everything.

"What?" Felicity asked.

"You and Oliver...what's going on with you guys?"

Felicity eyes drifted until they landed on Oliver. He was talking with Ronnie and actually laughing about something. The truth was, that Felicity really didn't know what was going on with them. She knew there was a change in their interactions, but what kind of change exactly, she couldn't answer.

"Did something happen between the two of you?" Caitlin asked breaking Felicity from her thoughts.

"What? You mean like..." Her voice trailed off as Caitlin nodded and grinned.

"Of course not," Felicity scoffed. "We just actually had a conversation. That's all."

"A conversation? What kind of conversation made the two of you be civil with one another?"

"Just about things," Felicity shrugged. Even though she and Caitlin didn't have many secrets between them, she knew she couldn't tell her about anything Oliver had shared with her. She was just getting him to open up, so she wasn't about to jeopardize that in any way.

"Okay, tell me anything. I'll just continue to observe."

"You do that," Felicity laughed.

Uh oh," Caitlin whispered. She directed Felicity's attention to the door.

"What..." Felicity's voiced trailed off when she saw who had just walked in.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Felicity whispered. Cooper had just walked in. She looked at Oliver just as he picked up his phone; she knew for a fact that it was Roy on the phone. They just could not have a good drama free day. Oliver jumped up and as his face immediately turned to a frown and his jaw went slack. Oliver looked at Felicity as he talked on the phone as he got up to walk off. She excused herself from Caitlin and quickly went to stop Oliver.

Ronnie went to sit by Caitlin as they watched Oliver and Felicity whisper back and forth pleading each case.

"Oliver what are you about to do?" She whispered to him.

"I'm just going to handle this, don't worry."

Felicity looked down and saw Cooper being escorted towards the back. "Let me go with you."

"Hell no," he shook his head.

"Oliver," she pleaded. "What harm will it do to go with you? Other than stopping you from killing him."

A small laugh escaped Oliver's lips. "I'm not going to kill him Felicity."

"Well you might try, Cooper talks a lot and I know you don't have that much restraint when it comes to things like that," she said.

"Oh you know this, huh?" He smiled.

"Yes," she nodded and smiled.

"Fine," he gave in.

"We'll be back," she turned and told them.

Oliver grabbed her hand and led them down the stairs. Oliver kept Felicity close to him as he pushed through the crowd.

"Let me do the talking," he told Felicity when they made it to the private room Cooper was in.

"But..."

"No buts," he cut her off.

"Oliver! Let me just go in there first and see what he has to say. You stand right out here and if anything happens I won't hesitate to call for help."

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed. "The minute he tries something, I'm coming in."

"Of course," she squeezed past the guards standing by the wall, as Oliver pulled the curtain back so she could get in.

"What the hell is going on..." Cooper's voice trailed off when he saw Felicity walk in.

"Felicity! What a pleasant surprise," he smiled. His eyes traveled up and down her body as he admired her outfit. "You look amazing."

"Cooper why are you here?" She asked, ignoring his flirting.

"You haven't returned any of my calls," he said as he walked closer to her.

"For good reason. I told you we were done." She held her clutch under her arm and crossed them.

"You don't mean that. That's not what I got the last time we were together," Cooper said. He smiled at the memory of their last time together. "If I remember correctly..."

"What you remember is me making a mistake. Something that will never happen again. If the first thing a girl tells you after sex is I never want to see you again, take that as a hint."

Oliver shut his eyes as he felt a sense of rage flash through his body. Everything about this guy just rubbed him the wrong way. He was an asshole, and the fact that Felicity actually had a relationship with this dude, angered him to his core.

"Felicity, I didn't know I was going to run into you here," he said.

"Cut the shit Cooper. You know what this place is and you knew there was a good chance of me being here," Felicity said. "Why would you try to cause drama here of all places?"

"Felicity this mafia stuff doesn't scare me," Cooper walked even closer to her. "I know about your lifestyle."

"Cooper don't come near me," she warned.

The words hadn't even left the air before Oliver swooped in. He grabbed Felicity by the arm and pushed her behind him.

"You need to leave," Oliver demanded. His tone was very low and direct. There was no room for Cooper to try anything.

"Wait. Who is..."

"I'm the one talking, not you.," Oliver cut him off. "Now leave."

"Felicity who is this guy suppose to be?" Cooper asked with a smile. "Is this your new guy? The reason you won't answer my calls or texts."

Felicity sighed when she saw Oliver clench his fist. He made a move to walk towards him, when Felicity's hands flew up and grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"I think Felicity has made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want anything to do with you. Now I think it would be best if you leave before things turn ugly."

"You can't kick me out of this place," Cooper scoffed.

"I can when I practically own it. Now if you want to continue to piss off a Bratva captain, by all means be my guest, but know that you won't leave this place in this same fashion that you walked in here in," Oliver finished his threat.

Cooper stared at Oliver for awhile, contemplating exactly what to do next. He saw Oliver brush his coat open as his hand gripped the gun on his hip.

"Fine," Cooper threw his hands up and started towards the door.

When he got to Felicity he reached out towards her and in seconds, Oliver picked him up and slammed down on the floor. "You must think I'm joking with you!" He pressed his knee down in Cooper's chest as he struggled to breath. Oliver pulled the gun out and held it against his temple.

"Oliver," Felicity yelled.

"I've killed people for a lot less, I won't lose an ounce of sleep if I pull this trigger, and splatter your brains all over this floor."

Cooper tried to say something but Oliver cut his airways off as he pushed his arm into his throat. Oliver leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Felicity is no longer your concern. She's with me now. If I ever see or hear of you trying to contact her again," the sound of the safety being taken off filled the room. Cooper furiously nodded as Oliver continued to talk. "I will personally put a bullet in your skull and mail your mother parts of your body."

Felicity couldn't hear what Oliver was saying, but judging by Cooper's eyes that were widening, it wasn't good.

Oliver picked Cooper up and shoved him out of the door; he signaled for the guards to take him out.

"Are you okay?" He turned and asked Felicity.

"Yep," she nodded. "Are you?"

"Of course."

"What did you say to him?" Felicity looked over and saw Cooper being thrown out of the entrance.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Oliver put the safety back on the gun, securing it on his hip. He looked back up and gave her a small wink.

"Well thank you, but there is one thing I'm upset about."

"What's that?"

"You didn't let me use my newly learned moves. I wanted to impress you."

Oliver laughed. "Oh I've seen and felt them and I'm very impressed. As long as your with me, you don't need to use them though."

"Wait," Felicity grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She fixed the collar on his shirt and straightened his jacket. She ran her hands over his shoulders.

"There. You don't look like you just threatened to kill someone now," she smiled.

"Thank you. Now come on."

They made it back to the table. "Everything alright?" Ronnie asked.

"Yep," Felicity nodded.

"Why are the two of you smiling like Bonnie and Clyde?" Caitlin leaned in and whispered.

Felicity shook her head and laughed.

"Just had to get rid of Cooper that's all," Felicity glanced over at Oliver and smiled at him over her glass.

"Yeah something is definitely different between the two of you. I'll let you tell me on your own time though, I won't push it," Caitlin sat back and said.

* * *

><p>Oliver stood up and looked down over the crowd. Caitlin and Ronnie had taken off, and it was just him and Felicity now. Roy was really doing a great job with the club; he was really coming into his own. Oliver was about to join Felicity back on the couch when he glanced two men walking into Verdant. He should've known the night was going too good to be true.<p>

He immediately recognized them as Frank Bertinelli's men. Bertinelli had been wanting to join forces with Bratva for awhile now. Anatoly was hesitant about working with them because they were so unpredictable. One of the guards stopped them, and Oliver knew they were about to ask for a meeting. They looked up and saw Oliver watching them from upstairs. Oliver caught Roy's sight and nodded, motioning for him to come over.

Felicity sensed Oliver tense up as he watched the commotion downstairs by the door. She looked down to see what had Oliver's attention. She thought she recognized the men from some files she had looked through in her father's office.

Felicity stood up beside Oliver. "Oliver what's going on?" Felicity asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just wait a minute," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

When Roy made his way upstairs to them, Oliver whispered something in his ear as Roy nodded and said okay repeatedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the men being escorted to a back room.

Oliver turned to Felicity and grabbed her shoulders so he could look at her.

"Listen, I want you to stay with Roy. I have to go handle something in the back for a moment, it shouldn't take long."

Felicity noted the seriousness in his eyes and nodded. "I'll be back," he said when she didn't release him from her gaze.

"Okay," she nodded. She looked down as he released her hands. She didn't even notice they were holding hands. She didn't know who grabbed the other's hand first, all she is that they were linked. He whispered to Roy again as he walked down the stairs.

"Come on Felicity," Roy held his arm out to lead the way.

As Roy walked her over to the bar, she looked back to see if she could see Oliver. She saw him watching her as he approached the men, he nodded and she turned back around to Roy.

"Oliver," the man held his arms out as he walked up to him. The man was known as Shawn, Frank's henchman, the guy with him must have been his flunky.

"No time for the fake formalities Shawn. Let's go ahead and talk." The man dropped his arms down and quickly got rid of the smile on his face. "Well lead the way."

They walked to Oliver's office. Two guards took position outside the door as they walked in.

"Have a seat," Oliver pointed to the two chairs in front of the desk as he sat down.

"I'll stand," the guy said. "Was that Anatoly's daughter?" hes asked, before letting out a long whistle. "She has grown up, and very well I might add."

The man's laugh was cut off by the sound of Oliver jumping up from the desk. The glare Oliver shot at him was enough to make the man drop dead.

Shawn quickly stepped jumped up to keep Oliver from getting to him. "Let's calm down okay. We haven't even talked yet. Jay apologize."

"Okay," the man held his hand up. "I was just joking." He walked over to the door and stood by it. "My apologies."

"Watch your mouth," Oliver warned. "You should know that I don't like jokes. Shawn you should train your monkeys better."

"Yes we all know how serious Oliver Queen is," Shawn said trying to ease the tension. "Let's just get down to business."

Oliver smoothed his tie back down and took his seat again.

"Talk," he said.

"Listen the news of this tension between you guys and the Triad has been making it's rounds," Shawn said. "Anatoly needs to take care of things before they get out of control.

Oliver sat up and clapsed his hands together on the desk. He already knew where Shawn was going with this conversation and he knew that the answer was no. Frank had been trying to establish his organization more and he probably saw this as a perfect time to play them against one another.

Shawn was finishing his attempt to sale this proposition. "Now look Oliver, pretty soon sides will have to be chosen. We can either join or..."

"Or what?" Oliver cut him off. "Huh?"

"Oliver look.."

"No you look and listen. You must have huge balls to come into a Bratva business and not only threaten a Bratva captain, but Bratva as a whole. Either you have a death wish or you are just a fucking idiot."

"Oliver you know how it goes. We have to choose a side."

"This has nothing to do with your organization. Joining you guys will hold no benefit for us. The way I see it, is that you guys are hoping to benefit from this war, by playing both sides. Anatoly doesn't like distrust and he's always kept it cordial with Frank. "

"Okay if that's they way you guys want to play it. Don't say we didn't extend the offer."

"We're done, so the two of you can find your way out," Oliver said.

"You guys are making a mistake," Shawn said. Something about his tone rubbed Oliver the wrong way.

Oliver was about to respond when he heard commotion outside the door; it sounded like a fight had broke out. He was about to get up and look out, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jay lock the door and Shawn reaching towards his waist. He grabbed the gun from under the desk, because it was quicker to get to, and the letter opener that he had spotted off to the side. There were screams and gunshots coming from outside now. His fears were confirmed that this was a set up. He was glad Felicity wasn't in there, but now his mind was on racing because he didn't know where she was at. Hopefully Roy got her out. He threw the letter opener hitting the guy in the throat, as he jumped behind the chair with Shawn firing in his direction. One bullet lodged into the chair right about his head. He checked the gun, and it was loaded.

"Oliver don't make this any more difficult than it has to be," Shawn yelled. Another bullet pierced into the wall. The only thing that was on Oliver's mind was getting to Felicity. He had to think fast to get out of there. He trusted Roy, but Roy wasn't designated as Felicity's protector, it was him and he was damned if something was going to happen to her on his watch. He wouldn't be able to face Anatoly if something happened to her. Oliver peeked behind the chair and quickly fired a shot before taking cover again. Two more bullets were sent in his direction.

"Shawn I don't know how you think you're getting out of here alive," he said. He laid face down on the floor and looked under the desk. He could see Shawn's legs, and he quickly fired two shots, hitting him in each leg. Shawn dropped to the floor, screaming in pain. Oliver jumped up and ran over to Shawn on the floor. He kicked the gun out of his hand.

"Was I the only target tonight?" He pulled Shawn up by the throat.

"Yes," the guy groaned.

"Don't lie to me," Oliver yelled.

"I'm not lying. We were sent to take you out in case you turned us down. We didn't know Anatoly's daughter would be here, I swear."

Oliver threw him back on the floor, shooting him once in the head. He made his way over to the door where the guy was still struggling to breath with the letter opener lodged in his throat, he placed a bullet in his head as he stepped over him.

Outside, Roy's priority immediately switched to getting Felicity to safety. When the first shot rang out, Roy quickly wrapped Felicity in his arms and threw her under the table. The bar was shielding them. "Stay down," he yelled. Felicity shielded her head as debris flew around her. There was so much screaming and chaos with people running around. She couldn't tell which way the chaos was directed. Where was Oliver? She felt her heart beating and pounding against her chest.

"Felicity I have to get you out of here," Roy told her. He pulled his gun out and grabbed her hand.

"Wait! I can't leave without Oliver," she snatched her hand away. Panic rose up in her voice as she realized that she hadn't seen him since he went into the room.

"Felicity come on! He told me to get you out in case anything happened. Now I need to get you out of here." He pulled her against him as he she pushed back.

"Roy I can't leave him," she pleaded. "Look just give me a gun, and we can go to that room..."

"Felicity no! He's going to be fine okay. Right now the number one priority is getting you to safety. Oliver would want you safe, now let's go."

"Roy please! We have to get him. I need to get to him," she said.

"I'm sorry Felicity, but we are wasting time, I have to do my job, now come on."

He nodded to the security guards as he got up. He grabbed Felicity's arm snatching her up, as the guard started leading the way. with Roy pulling Felicity closely beside him. Felicity tried to scan the crowd to see any sign of Oliver, but everything was going so fast, she couldn't see anything.

When Oliver opened the door the two guards that were usually posted outside fell in. He quickly scanned the crowd to see if he could see a glimpse of Felicity anywhere. Shit! It was absolute chaos in there. He had to get to her. Hopefully Roy had gotten her out in time. He looked to the left and saw one if Bertinelli's men rushing towards him. He dove behind a table as he sent two bullets in his direction. When the guy stayed down, Oliver got up and he caught sight of another guy running towards one of the guards he knew. Shit! He yelled when he saw the guard fall down, he must've been hit. He saw Roy throw Felicity under the table, before firing at the man. Oliver ran over and grabbed Felicity. "Oliver," she gasped. Roy shot the shooter as he shielded Oliver and Felicity.

"I got you," he said. He picked her up as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He hooked his arm around her waist and brought his other arm under her legs. "Hold on tight," he said. She nodded as she buried her face in his neck. He felt such a relief when he saw her and holding her in his arms made it even better.

He nodded towards the backdoor as Roy started out in front of them. "Is your car back this way," he asked. "Yeah," Oliver nodded. Roy kicked the backdoor open and stepped to the side, as Oliver rushed down the steps. Oliver placed Felicity down as he took the keys out, unlocking the doors before throwing them to Roy. He opened the door as Felicity crawled in, with him close behind her. He slammed the door shut as Roy slid in and started the car.

"I think we're good," Oliver said as he looked back, he didn't see anyone following them. "I think we got all of the men inside too, but step on it.

"Are you okay," he turned to Felicity and asked as her. He grabbed her face and brushed her hair back. Felicity nodded, as he looked over her face and arms. He had to make sure she wasn't hurt. He saw a couple of scratches on her arm, but nothing major.

Oliver snatched his coat off and wrapped Felicity in it.

"Yes I'm fine. Are you?" She looked down at the blood on his shirt.

"It's not mines," he reassured her.

Oliver finally let out a sigh of relief. His heart had been caught in chest since the shootout started. "Roy what the hell? I told you to get her out!" Oliver yelled.

"I know, I'm sorry," Roy said.

"Don't be mad at him," Felicity said. "I fought him, I didn't want to leave without you."

"Felicity I told you to do what Roy said," he sighed.

"I know. I just..." she looked down at her hands that were shaking. He grabbed her hands and held them in his. He brushed her hair behind her ear as he caressed her cheek.

Roy looked back at them in the mirror. He saw Oliver pull Felicity into his arms, and run his hand back and forth over her shoulder. He could sense a change in their relationship before, but now he was actually seeing it with his eyes.

"Those weren't Triad people," Felicity noted.

"No," Oliver shook his head. He searched for his phone in his pockets. He quickly dialed Anatoly.

"There was trouble at the club, but Felicity is safe. We're on the way to the house now."

Oliver finished quickly briefing Anatoly. He checked on Felicity again when he finally ended the call.

"You okay?" He asked her again.

"Yeah Oliver. I'm fine."

Oliver was beyond pissed. Felicity had gotten in the crossfire because of Frank's stupid logic; he couldn't wait to get his hands on Frank and the Triad now. He pulled Felicity closer to him as rode in silence to the house now.

* * *

><p>When Oliver walked in the house with Felicity behind him, Raisa practically ran through him to get to Felicity.<p>

"I'm fine Aunt Raisa," Felicity hugged her. Raisa pulled back and looked over Felicity. She ran her hands over her face. "I was a nervous wreck!"

"Thank you Oliver," she grabbed his his hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yes ma'am," he nodded.

Raisa was checking on Roy when they heard Anatoly's voice roaring through the house.

"Where is Felicity?"

"Come on," Oliver grabbed her hand.

"Wait," she pulled Roy into a hug. "Thank you. I know I was difficult, but thank you for protecting me."

"Anytime," he smiled.

She nodded as Oliver pulled her in the direction of the office, with Roy behind them.

"Baby girl!" Anatoly exclaimed once they walked in. He pulled her into a hug. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and wrapped her in his arms.

"Dad you're hurting my ribs," Felicity groaned.

"Wait are you hurt? Do you need to see the doctor?" Anatoly panicked.

"No no I'm fine dad, that's not what I meant. I'm not hurt in any fashion. You were just squeezing the life out of me."

"Okay," he nodded. He ran his hands over his face, and let out a long sigh.

"I'll just go clean up because I'm sure you three have a lot to discuss." She looked from Roy to Oliver. She gave him a soft smile before she reached for the door.

When Felicity opened the door, she walked right into Diggle's strong arms. John grabbed her and kissed her forehead.

"Oh gosh," Felicity smiled. "I should've known you weren't far behind."

"Damn right," he said. "I had to make sure you're okay."

"I'm okay, I promise. Now go," she pushed him towards the office and closed the door.

"Thank you Oliver," Anatoly held his hand to Oliver.

Oliver looked down at his hand and shrugged. "Just doing my job sir," he shook his hand.

"I know, I just feel like I can't thank you enough for protecting my baby girl." He pulled

"You have to thank Roy too," Oliver patted him on the back. "He kept Felicity safe until I got there."

"Roy," Anatoly shook his hand. "Thank you, you're really coming into your own. No wonder Oliver speaks highly of you."

"Yes sir," Roy smiled. He looked over at Oliver, as Oliver smiled and gave him a head nod.

"Okay, let's get down to business. How many men did we lose?" Anatoly asked.

"Three, and two are currently in the hospital," Diggle answered. "So we're down by five men."

"дерьмо́ (shit)!...So what the hell happened," Anatoly asked.

"It was Bertinelli's men. Shawn, his henchman and his right hand man. They came in and requested a meeting. I sent Felicity with Roy to keep her out of the way because I had a bad feeling about it. I was the target, not her, I questioned Shawn to make sure."

"I knew they were going to pull a stunt like this," John crossed his arms and sighed. "We have to hit them back fast."

Anatoly paced back and forth behind his desk. "This is exactly why I didn't want to join up with Bertinelli's, they don't think. They are so quick to jump the gun. So now we have to deal with them and the Triad."

Anatoly swallowed the rest of his drink and he say down to think.

"Roy and Oliver, head home and be back here tomorrow morning at eight, you have done enough tonight. I have other people on the issue right now, I will finish discussing things with John tonight as we hatch out the final plan, and we will regroup tomorrow. Thank you."

"Are you sure because if I'm needed I can stay," Oliver said.

Anatloly held his hand up, "I'm sure. Go home and get some rest, tomorrow will be a busy day."

"Okay sir. I'll just check on Felicity one last time before I go."

* * *

><p>Oliver walked up to Felicity's door that was cracked. He lightly knocked.<p>

"Come in," she said.

She was leaning over, unstrapping her heels.

"Did you apologize to Roy?" She asked without looking up.

"Yes I did," he answered.

"Liar, you don't apologize to people."

The head nod, smile, and kind words he had given Roy was his way of apologizing. He told Roy before he left, of how proud of him he was and how he handled himself. He knew just how hard it was to get Felicity to do something from experience.

"I apologized to you," he walked up to her. She stood up and he noticed she still had her dress and his jacket. The sleeves were draped over her hands, as the jacket engulfed her.

"That you did," she smiled. She quickly looked away when he smiled back. "Uh," she looked down at her clothes. "I haven't changed yet because Raisa had to double check to make sure I wasn't injured. Then I had to talk to Caitlin and calm her down and then Lyla called. Caitlin was very hysterical, and you know Lyla is calm in these situations, because she's used to stuff like this, but she was concerned."

Oliver watched her as she babbled. Seeing her in his jacket was doing something to him. She looked even more petite, and he just wanted to wrap her in his arms. The need to keep her safe was growing. He smiled once she finished her babble.

"Are you done?" He asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I guess you want your coat back, huh?"

"I mean if you want to keep it you can," he shrugged.

"It's not a hoodie, so I'll pass."

Oliver eliminated the space between them. He grabbed the collar of the jacket and opened it. Her beauty was breathtaking. Of course he wasn't blind and had noticed her beauty since the first day they met, but their immediate hate for each other clouded any of that. She looked so vulnerable, and he knew he would give his life to protect her.

"So are you going to tell me why you were fighting with Roy?" "Because I wasn't leaving without you. Even though he practically dragged me from behind that bar."

"Good."

"Yeah yeah," Felicity said. She relaxed her shoulders so Oliver could pull the jacket off. He slowly pushed the jacket back, as she pulled her arms out the sleeves.

She dropped down on the bed, and let out a loud sigh.

"Are you sure you're okay," Oliver asked again.

"Yes I'm fine," she assured him.

"Look I'm sorry about what happened tonight. You ended up in danger and it was my fault."

"No it wasn't Oliver," she cut him off. She grabbed his hands and held them in hers. "You protected me. It was an ambush."

"It was my fault, and you almost got hurt. That's unacceptable okay, you are under my protection, not Roy or anyone else. You're mines!" His voice came out in a low roar and his eyes were hardened. He dropped his head in his hands as he sighed. The words that were coming out of his mouth were coming out faster than he wanted them to. He wasn't thinking before he talked. He noticed that that was the second time he had said that she was his. He just wasn't sure in what way exactly he meant those words.

He stood up as he sighed. "What I mean is..."

Felicity jumped up and launched into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her hug took him by surprise as he stumbled back.

His hand came up to rest on the small of her back as he accepted the hug. His other hand came up to back of her head.

"I know what you mean," she whispered. "Thank you Oliver." She stood on her tip toes and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Her lips came close to his, and he fought the urge to turn his head and meet her lips.

"You're welcome." He ran his fingers through her hair, as they broke the hug.

Felicity didn't really know what was going on with them. She was feeling a shift, but what kind of shift exactly, she didn't know. Maybe she was reading things wrong, and Oliver was just being protective, but her hate for Oliver Queen was drifting away.

"Now I need to go; I'll let you clean up and get some sleep."

"Will I see you tomorrow," she asked.

"Of course," he nodded.

"Is your place safe? I mean, will they come after you there? Maybe you should sleep here in one of the guest rooms here," she suggested.

"I'll be fine. My place is very safe," he said.

"Will you at least text me when you get home?'

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I will do that, I promise," he said. "See you in the morning princess," he smiled.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Lyla and Felicity were eating breakfast and talking in the kitchen. Lyla had made it her mission to come over to see Felicity. They had been getting a lot closer since she'd been back. It was nice to have her as a friend. Caitlin was a great friend, but Lyla was around the lifestyle, so she could talk to her about things Caitlin wouldn't understand. Their conversation was interrupted when she heard Oliver's voice in the house. Hearing his voice brought a sense of peace over her, and she could feel it wash over her in waves. What was really going on?

"Hey Lyla," he spoke before turning to Felicity.

He gave her a small smile. "How did you sleep," he asked.

"Decent," she shrugged.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I got a decent amount of sleep. Nothing to be worried about. What about you?"

"Decent," he shrugged mimicking her.

"You want something to eat," Felicity asked, gesturing towards the food on the table.

"No thank you. I'm fine," he declined.

"You sure?"

Lyla sat back in her chair and watched the interesting exchange going on. She probably didn't even have to be quiet because she was pretty sure they had forgotten she was even in the room.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I just wanted to check on you before I went to see your father."

Felicity nodded, "Well I'm fine," she said as Oliver smiled at her. She leaned back against the counter on her elbows.

"I'm sure you haven't eaten this morning, at least grab something small," Felicity said. She turned to the bowl of fruit and pointed to it.

"Well if you insist," Oliver leaned in and reached behind her. "I'll take an apple," he said.

"Good choice." Felicity said as Oliver bit into the apple. She had never witnessed an apple being eaten so sexy before. She looked away as she cleared her throat.

"What?" she asked as he silently stared at her.

"Nothing, it's just that you have your glasses on. I like when you wear them,"

"Oh," she smiled.

"Are you really okay?" He asked again.

"Yeah," she nodded

"I'll see you later," he said before glancing over at Lyla and leaving out.

"So," Lyla cleared her throat as she walked up to Felicity.

"What?"

"What was that?" Lyla nodded towards the door,

"What was what?" Felicity went back to washing the plate.

"You know what. That little exchange," Lyla folded her arms.

Felicity shook her head and shrugged as she scrubbed at the plate some more.

"Felicity sweetie, I'm pretty sure that plate is clean now," Lyla laughed.

"Oh," Felicity rinsed the plate and dried it. She could feel Lyla staring a hole into the side of her face. She was indicating that she wasn't moving or letting it go anytime soon.

"Lyla please stop staring at me."

"Well talk," she laughed.

"We're friendlier with one another now," she shrugged. "We're making progress."

"What kind of progress?"

Felicity shook her head. "Lyla will you stop talking in riddles."

"I'm just asking questions, but I'll leave you alone...for now."

* * *

><p>"Hell no. I don't want anyone else on her detail."<p>

They had just finished talking to Anatoly about their next moves, and mapping out the next set of plans. When they were leaving out of the office, Roy suggested that someone else could help him with her detail while things were getting more hectic. He thought maybe they needed to add more people.

"Oliver..."

"No." Oliver held his hand up and cut Roy off. He shook his head as he leaned against the wall.

"I'm responsible for her. I was assigned to her, and I won't place her care in anyone else."

"Things being hectic is exactly why I need to be the one watching her," Oliver said. "Use the extra men for Anatoly, as long as Felicity is with me, I will protect her."

"Oliver is right," John said. "Anatoly gave him the job, and if he feels Oliver is the best option, he is."

"Just a suggestion," Roy said with a shrug. "I gotta go to Verdant, and finish up there," he said looking at his watch.

"I'll call you if I need something," Oliver said as he took a seat on the sofa.

"Are you okay?" John asked Oliver after Roy left.

Oliver looked up from his hands. "Yeah, why?"

"Something is weighing on you I can tell. It's about last night?"

Oliver sat back, and scrubbed his face. The incident had been weighing on his mind since last night.

"It's just," Oliver sighed. "I hate that I wasn't with her last night. I know she wasn't alone, she was with Roy, but compared to me Roy is technically still a kid."

"Oliver you did the right thing by not having her in there with you, she might have really ended up hurt," John told him.

"I know I just didn't like not being with her when she was scared.

John fell silent, contemplating exactly how to ask Oliver the next question. "Are the two of you..."

"No," Oliver shook his head. "It's nothing like that."

Oliver walked over to the window and looked out before addressing Diggle.

"She's different. I thought she would be one of those girls who would just..."

"Not give a shit about you," John finished his sentence.

"Yeah," Oliver said with half a laugh. "But she is...she's," Oliver shrugged.

"So are you developing feelings for her?"

Oliver digested John's question. He had been asking himself that exact question for awhile now. Whenever he thought of Felicity, he felt something in the pit of his belly. Something he'd never felt before with any other girl. He couldn't find the right words to describe her. He knew she was different. She wasn't shallow or the spoiled brat stereotype. She was beautiful, smart, caring, and didn't take his shit at all. That's what drew him to her the most. She wasn't afraid to call him out, or go at it.

"John, are you trying to rope me into something," he laughed.

"Of course not," John patted him on the pat. "But I have eyes, and I can clearly see what you're desperately trying hard not to admit. Felicity's a little firecracker, and I knew the minute the two of you were put together, sparks would fly. I was a little worried at first because she clearly hated your ass, and I didn't blame her."

"Oh wow. Thanks John," Oliver laughed.

"Just telling the truth, you're a hard man to get through to, but Felicity is slowly doing it."

"Shut up John," Oliver laughed.

He knew what John was getting at, but he wasn't ready to answer that question just yet. He was dangerously flirting with mixing business with pleasure.

* * *

><p>"Can we take a break?" Felicity bent over to rest on her knees, and caught her breath.<p>

"No breaks," Oliver said.

Felicity rolled her eyes, "Well I'm tired and I will sit down until you stop wanting to be a damn drill sergeant." She snatched a towel up and wiped her face before dropping to a seat on the floor.

"Come on," he pointed to the mat.

"I said no."

"Felicity, I wasn't asking."

"Well I'm telling you no."

"Felicity, I swear you just love being difficult. You make me...you know what nevermind," Oliver said.

"I make you what? You looked like you were about to say something," Felicity said.

"It's nothing."

"Oliver come on. You've been talking, why aren't you now?" Felicity had noticed a small shift in him over the last couple of days. It started the day after the club incident, after their interaction that morning, it had gone back to being awkward.

"Look I said it's nothing Felicity, okay!"

Oliver's tone indicated that he was done talking, and if it was anyone else they probably would've cowered into a corner. But Felicity wasn't just anyone. Felicity took the towel from around her neck and balled it up. She threw it as hard as she could hitting Oliver in the back of his head.

"Dammit Felicity," he groaned.

He turned around to see her walking out of the room. He could hear her mumbling under her breath as she made her way upstairs.

He groaned as he got up to follow her. "Felicity..."

"I'm done," she yelled. "I'm done until you stop being a jerk."

She walked into the kitchen. She snatched the refrigerator open, and grabbed a water bottle before slamming the door shut.

She took a sip of the water, before starting back on her rant.

"I don't know what happened to you in the span of a couple of days, but you better get it together quick. I'm really sick of your shit."

Oliver eliminated all the space between him and Felicity in seconds. She dropped the water bottle as Oliver pushed her against the counter.

"Get out of my face asshole," she pushed against his chest. "I guess you showed that you had some resemblance of human feelings, so you had to revert back to being an ass. Tell me what were you going to say?"

"Leave it alone Felicity." He turned away from her and she grabbed his arm. He looked down at her small hand that could barely cover his bicep, back up to her face.

"If this is about what happened at the club? You can't possibly blame yourself for that. You will not go back to be a mute robot with me. We were making good progress and now you're back to this. You have a mouth, use it!"

Once Oliver's eyes fell down to her pouty lips he knew he was screwed.

Before Felicity knew it, she was up against the counter again. Oliver held her arms out to the side, as he pressed his body into hers. His mouth came crashing hard on her lips. For a moment, she stood frozen, trying to get over the shock of what was actually happening.

Oliver's hands ran down her sides until they stopped at her waist, pulling her closer to him. Felicity opened up as her body relaxed and she accepted the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as Oliver pushed his tongue deeper into her mouth as Felicity sucked it in. Her nails dragged across the nape of his neck as she felt Oliver's fingers dig into her hips.

He lifted her up by the hips, sitting her on the counter. Felicity wrapped her legs around his waist, as they both let out a small moan at the same time. Oliver's tore his lips away from hers as he turned his focus to her neck. He bit down on the pulse on her neck, sending thrills through her, as he ground his hips into her. Felicity gasped against his neck as she felt him growing beneath her. He only had on some shorts, so it didn't leave much to the imagination. She dragged her teeth against his jaw before catching his earlobe between them.

He brought his hands down to cradle her face, before kissing her again. He bit down on her bottom lip before In his mind, he was telling himself to stop.

His lips were the perfect mix of rough and soft. Felicity was seeing stars at this point. Oliver bit down on her bottom lip before stroking it with his tongue. Felicity's hands ran down his back, dragging her nails along the way. Oliver's hands found their way up her shirt, as he massaged her soft skin.

He finally willed up enough strength before they went too far and pulled away from her. Felicity's legs slowly dropped from around his waist as she opened her eyes, staring right into Oliver's. Her fingers came up to her swollen lips; she brushed her hair out of her face. She was speechless. She didn't think Oliver would kiss her; granted she had thought about kissing him, but she didn't think he would practically throw her up against something and kiss her.

This wasn't suppose to happen, Oliver thought as he cleared his throat.

There was no way he could get involved with her, the bosses daughter. It was so cliche, but he did have these feelings sneaking up in him, and they were becoming hard to control. Hence, why he currently had her up against a kitchen counter making out with her.

"Look Felicity..." he whispered. Oliver's phone ringing stopped him before he could say anything else.

Oliver turned his back to her as he answered the phone.

Felicity hopped down, as she wiped at her lips. Stupid, sexy asshole. Why were his lips so perfect, and why did she want them back on hers?

"Yeah," he answered in a flustered tone.

She saw his body and demeanor change as he listened on the phone. "Oliver what is it?"

Oliver held his hand up as he continued to talk. Frowns formed on his forehead as he sighed, and mumbled Russian cuss words under his breath.

Oliver hung up the phone and scrubbed his face. "Felicity sit down." He took her hand and guided her to the sofa.

"Listen," he grabbed her hands.

"Oliver you're scaring me. Just spit it out," she said, her voice laced with worry. There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her nauseous.

"Look it's your father, he's in the hospital."

"Oh gosh," Felicity sighed. She felt her heart starting to race. Panic raced through her body, as she felt her breathing become labored.

"Felicity..."

"This is too much," She yelled. "I mean what's his condition? How bad is it? What happened?"

"There was a car accident," Oliver said. "So far, all we know is that he's being prepped for surgery because there was internal bleeding."

A sob erupted from Felicity's throat. So many thoughts and worries were running through her mind.

"Felicity!" He grabbed her face as she looked up at him with tears streaming down her face. "You have to calm down okay."

Felicity's breathing sped up and it was as if her heart and breaths were racing to see which could go faster. Next her body slowly began to tremble as her hands started shaking. Oliver immediately could tell a panic attack was coming.

"Felicity, just breathe," he whispered. He crouched down in front of her. "Listen to me, just take slow steady breaths." He grabbed her hands and held them in his. "Hold your head down and slowly breathe." He rubbed circles across her hands as she started to listen to him. He moved to her neck and shoulders as he massaged it. She while she nodded and quieted down.

When she finally calmed down and looked back up at Oliver again, he wiped the tears from her face. "Roy is on the way. Sit back and wait here okay." Oliver told Roy to swing by and pick them up. He chose not to drive, so he could sit with Felicity, and keep her calm.

He made a couple of calls as he waited on Roy to get there.

When Roy got outside, Felicity practically ran to the car. Oliver held the door opened for her as she slid inside. "Let me talk to Roy for a minute and we'll be on the way," he closed the door.

"I want you to drive," he told Roy. "I'll sit back here with her. Have you heard anything else?"

"No, just that they've taken him to surgery," he answered.

"Okay," Oliver sighed. "Let's go."

He sat next to Felicity and pulled her into his arms. "It's going to be okay," he whispered against her hair. Felicity threaded her fingers with his as she nodded.

Felicity was thankful that Oliver was there with her. If he hadn't been with her, who knows how she would be acting, and the mini panic attack she had earlier proved that. Just thought of losing her father scared her to no end.

Oliver stroked her hair as he silently panicked. The fact that this war was heating up worried him. He had told Anatoly to beef up his own detail. Now they just had to determine who exactly was behind the attacks, and end this war once and for all.

* * *

><p>When they got to the hospital. Security escorted them up to the secluded floor. It helped that Anatoly made huge donations to the hospital, so they had the luxury of having a secluded floor. Felicity ran up to Raisa and hugged her.<p>

Diggle called Oliver over to the side to speak with him.

"How's Felicity," John asked. He wanted to see how she was doing first. He loved her like a daughter almost, and he needed to make sure she was alright.

Oliver glanced back and saw Felicity hugged up, talking with Raisa and Lyla.

"She's as good as she can be," Oliver said. "She's terrified, but I got her to calm down."

Diggle sighed before he talked. "I have some men on it now. Apparently, they were coming from the market when they were ambushed from behind. The car's back tires were shot out, and the car flipped. It's not looking good for the driver, but Anatoly's situation looks more promising, he's still in surgery though."

"Shit," Oliver breathed in his hands. "Who was on his detail?" Oliver felt like something was up.

"Andrei called out sick today, so they had to switch up the detail, and Freddie took his place."

"Freddie?" Oliver repeated. "He isn't ready for this kind of business, he's still new. I've never heard of Andrei being sick before Dig, this doesn't sit well with me. Something is up."

John nodded in agreement. "It sounds fishy, it's just too much of a coincidence. He is at home..."

"We're going to pay him a visit," Oliver cut him off. At this point he was seeing red. He knew Andrei had doubled crossed them, so he was about to answer some very tough questions soon.

"Give me about ten minutes, so I can talk to Roy and Felicity, then I'll be ready to go," he said before walking off.

He gave Roy a rundown of what he was to do. He hated that he was about to leave Felicity again, but this had to be done.

"Hey," he said quietly when he reached her, pulling pulled her off to the side.

"I'm going to head out for a little while with John. We need to take care of something."

"Take care of what?"

"Don't worry about that okay," he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Oliver don't treat me like a fragile child, okay!"

"Felicity I'm not. Just focus on your father for right now, be there when he gets out of surgery. I'll be back. I promise."

"Fine," she reluctantly sighed. She pulled him into a hug. "You better come back."

"I'll be back," he whispered before placing a kiss on her cheek. "Roy is going to stay, he's calling up more guards, and no one will be able to get up here. Stay with Raisa and Lyla, and just think positive thoughts, he'll pull through."

"Okay," she said with a nod. Oliver ran his arms down her arms as he pulled away from her. "I'll be back," he mouthed before he went to wait by the elevator.

"So," John said when they got in the elevator and the the doors shut. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"Yeah. After we're done, I need to go by my place and pick up my car," he said with a smile.

"You got it man," John smiled back, laughing at how Oliver hurdled over his question. John had all the confirmation he needed.

* * *

><p>When Oliver and John made it back to the hospital, it was after midnight. He didn't expect to be gone that long, but after they had got the confirmation that Andrei, had in fact double-crossed them with Bertinelli.<p>

He saw Lyla sitting outside the room.

"Hey how is she?" he asked.

"She's been in there every since he came out of surgery. She's exhausted, and I can't get her to leave, eat, take a break or anything. Raisa tried too, but she's refusing."

"I'll try," he said before opening the door.

He walked in and saw Felicity curled up on the small sofa, sleep. He tried not to look at Anatoly, as he was hooked up to so many machines because truthfully hospitals freaked him out.

"Felicity," he softly shook her.

"Oliver," she sat up. She smiled once her eyes focused and she fully realized that he had come back like

"Felicity do you want to go home? I can take you."

"No I'm good," she said in the middle of a yawn.

"You can go for a little while Felicity. Get some food, take a shower, and get some sleep," Oliver reasoned with her.

"Coming from a guy who doesn't even sleep. That's funny." She even had a smart mouth while half sleep and delirious.

She walked over to the side of Anatoly's bed and stood over it looking down at him. "I'm fine Oliver."

"Felicity you've been here what? Over eight hours, I know you're tired."

Oliver watched her closely as she stood there. He could see she was trying hard to be strong, but it was really weighing on her. When he saw her shoulders drop, he walked up behind her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey just come with me for the night. I'll bring you back bright and early, I promise."

"I can't leave him though Oliver."

"Felicity, he would want you to take care of yourself. You know that."

"I know," she wiped her face.

"Go ahead," a voice from the door said. Oliver and Felicity looked over and saw Raisa standing in the doorway.

Raisa hadn't been standing there long, but it was long enough. She had been sensing a shift in Oliver and Felicity's interaction, but had chosen not to say anything yet.

"Go ahead and go with Oliver, I'll stay," Raisa said.

"But.."

"Go," Raisa said again. "This is not open for discussion Felicity. I've let you stay here long enough without eating or anything."

Oliver smiled at Raisa putting her foot down, but cut he cut it off when he saw Felicity glance at him.

"Okay fine." Felicity walked up and hugged her. "Call me if anything changes."

"Of course, get some sleep baby girl," she kissed her cheek.

Raisa turned to Oliver and pointed, "I know you'll take care of her."

"Yes ma'am," Oliver nodded.

John walked up when they came out. "Hey, security will be here around the clock. We're the only one on the this floor and no one will be getting up here."

"John you and Lyla aren't staying the entire night are you? Where is Lyla anyway?"

"No we aren't staying," John hugged her. "We're leaving, Lyla is in the restroom."

"Okay, tell her thanks for everything, and I'll talk to her later."

"Will do," John kissed her temple. "Now get some rest."

"Yes sir," Felicity smiled as Oliver walked her to the elevator.

When they got to the car, Felicity was surprised to see Oliver open the passenger side.

"Just get in," he said with a small laugh. He knew she was about to say something, so he decide to cut her off before she had the chance. Felicity smiled and took the seat.

"So," she said when Oliver got in the car. "Passenger seat, huh? I must be moving up in the world."

"Just a bit," he smiled. "What do you want to eat?" Oliver asked.

"I'm not really hungry," she shrugged. She rubbed her hands over her arms when she felt a chill run over her.

"Here," Oliver took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Put this on."

"Thanks," she said as she zipped the jacket and pulled the hood on.

"You need to eat Felicity. I know what to get you."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Alex. Yeah everything's good, I'm just calling to make my usual order, but this time it's for two."

Oliver bit back his laugh as he glanced at Felicity. Alex was making a joke about him never asking for enough for two.

"Alex just fix my food and quit worrying about these other things. I'll be there in ten minutes, bring it out back."

He saw Felicity biting on her nails, when he ended the call. She kept checking her phone for any updates.

"Hey, stop that." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it in his.

"I can't help it Oliver. I feel so useless. I should be there. I should..."

"Felicity I get it okay. I know how you feel, but making yourself sick won't help anything. Just let me take care of you, let me be here for you."

"Can we just go back to your place Oliver? I really don't want to be at my house tonight."

Being at her place alone without her father or Raisa would send her nerves into overdrive even more. Other guards would be there, but she didn't want to be around them. Oliver brought her a sense of calmness.

"Sure thing."

* * *

><p>"You want to shower while I get the food ready?" Oliver asked as they walked in his place.<p>

"Yeah, I guess," she answered. He sat the food on the counter in the kitchen, and then grabbed her bag from her; they had stopped by her place so she could pack. He motioned for her to follow him up the stairs.

"The guest room is your room, let me just get you some towels." He sat her bag down on the bag as he disappeared to get the rest of stuff she would need.

Felicity sat down on the plush bed. She let out the first breath of relief since she'd received the news earlier. Funny how the person she hated at first was bringing her the most comfort right now. Today had been a whirlwind. It started with Oliver acting strange, to him kissing her, and finally the situation with her dad. They hadn't even discussed the kiss because so many other things were so hectic. For now it was just an afterthought.

"Here you go," Oliver came back with towels, a bar of soap and a small bottle of shampoo.

"Thank you," she said.

"Of course," he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Just come down when you're done. Ace is desperately trying to get to you."

"That's because he likes me better than you," Felicity boasted.

"Yeah whatever," Oliver laughed as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>As Oliver was in the kitchen preparing the food, he was starting to accept that his feelings for Felicity were real. He really didn't know how it had happened. One minute he loathed Felicity and next, he couldn't stop thinking about her. His eyes fell down to Ace who was standing in front of the counter, where he had Felicity earlier. The memory of her lips on his came flooding in<p>

He looked up saw Felicity walking into the kitchen. She looked relaxed, which was a good sign. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and leggings. Her glasses were off, and her hair was tossled, and it still looked a little damp as some curls fell in her face. It didn't take long for Ace to run to her feet.

"How are you feeling," he asked her.

"Good," she said as she scooped Ace up. "You were right, so thank you."

"I'm always right," he shrugged. "Now let's eat."

"So is this what you eat often?" She asked.

"Yeah because I don't cook, so this is as close to a home cooked meal as I can get."

"Oh you cook. It's just nasty," Felicity said as she sat down.

Oliver came over and sat the plate in front of her, "you ate it though," he leaned down and whispered.

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings," she shrugged. "But technically your post workout meals don't count as food."

"Well next time I'll just let you starve," he said.

"Wow! That escalated quickly. Ace do you hear how he talks to me?"

She sat Ace down as she inspected her food.

"Oliver I can feel you staring at me," she said.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yep," she nodded slowly. That had to be like the fiftieth time Oliver asked her that. "I'm doing better than my father so..."

"Felicity don't think like that. He's going to be fine," Oliver tried to reassure her.

"How do you know that though? I mean we don't know anything really."

"Just keep the faith Felicity," he reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Where did you and John go earlier? Don't even try to tell me not to worry about it either. Don't treat me like I don't know what's going on," she said.

"We went to go chase a lead," Oliver said. He paused to contemplate just how much he wanted to tell her.

"Did you find them?"

"Some of them, and I made sure they suffered," he answered.

"Good," she said before popping a piece of meat in her mouth.

Ace who had been running back and forth between Oliver and Felicity, when he finally stopped at Felicity's feet and looked at her with his begging eyes.

"Felicity don't give him anymore food," Oliver said.

"Why not?"

"Because he ate already," he said.

"Oh," she said as she snuck him a piece of meat.

"You gave him some didn't it?"

"Nope," she lied. She looked down as Ace loudly chewed, and furiously wagged his tail. She looked up and Oliver was staring at her.

"What? It was just one piece okay."

"You're so easy," He shook his head.

"And again, this is why he likes me more than you."

"Yeah because you spoil him."

"You're suppose to," Felicity reasoned. "I mean look at him, he's adorable."

"Like I said, easy," he laughed.

When Felicity finished eating, she got up from the table and walked to the living room. The worry and panic was creeping back in. She knew she couldn't do much at the hospital, but at least she would be there, not feeling so useless. The only thing she was doing now was yawning constantly.

Oliver looked at his watch. It was almost three o'clock now. He figured she probably didn't want to go and lay down by herself. He walked over and sat on the couch. He patted on the seat beside him.

"What?" Felicity turned and asked.

"Lay on me," he said.

"What," Felicity looked him up and down.

He grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa. "Come on..."

"Oliver I don't have to lay on you."

"No you don't have to, but you want to," he held his arms out. "I want you to," he added. "Now hush and come on princess."

"Ugh," she mumbled.

"Ace get down," he said when the dog hopped on the sofa.

"Stop being mean," Felicity said. She picked him up and sat him in her lap as she sat by Oliver.

"I'll help you relax more until you fall asleep."

"How?" Felicity turned her face up. Granted they still hadn't discussed their kiss earlier, but she was pretty sure that wasn't what he was talking about.

Oliver grabbed the remote off the coffee table and becked for her again.

"We're going to watch Animal Planet."

He took his gun off his hip, and the one on his ankle and sat them on the side table.

"This is what I do when I have a lot on my mind, it helps. That and cleaning my guns, and no I'm not about to let you do that," he quickly said before she asked.

"Fine," Felicity pouted.

"You trust me right?" He asked when she kept staring at him.

"Yes."

"Yes what?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes I trust you Oliver," she said.

"Now sit here with me. The sound is up on your phone right," he asked as she nodded.

"Okay mines is too. If anything changes they will call."

"Okay," Felicity sighed. She let out a deep breath as she brushed her hair back. She leaned back into Oliver's arm as she felt her body relax.

"So how exactly does this show help you?"

Currently on the screen were two lions just grazing in the grass. It didn't really look that intriguing to her, and the narrator's voice was very dry.

"You probably fall asleep on it because it's boring, and you just think it's relaxing."

"Will you hush, and just watch it. You haven't even been watching it five minutes and you're already criticizing it."

"I'm just saying Oliver," she yawned. She tried to stifle her yawn as she stretched, but her tiredness was showing.

"Felicity just go to sleep," Oliver laughed.

"Nope, not sleepy."

Oliver looked at her and laughed as she yawned again.

"Felicity..."

"Shut up Oliver."

"Fine, fight your sleep like a child." He rubbed Ace's head as the dog nestled next to Felicity.

Felicity shifted in her seat more trying to get comfortable. She finally stopped fighting the urge she had, and scotted down, laying her head in his lap. Oliver took the blanket and spread it across her. His hand rested on her hip as he took his other hand and softly stroked her hair. He took in their current situation, and realized that there was more than likely no going back now.

* * *

><p>So, it literally took me forever to write this chapter, and I still feel uneasy about it...let me know what you think!<p> 


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